Fossil Fighters, Three Worlds Collide
by ImaDoinWat
Summary: There is a new Fossil Fighter in town and he's in for a ride. But will his presents just make the story line even worse and confusing then it has to be? Find out! Note: Very different from actual games IN THE END. Rated T for the end, which gets a little bad. BTW- It's on hiatus now
1. Prologe

_**Hey guys! I've decided to post something other than my Uta No Prince-Sama and on top of that, I've decided to no fix some of my old chapter. My character didn't end up quite as threatening at first as I thought and seemed far too annoyed at everything in a comical way- not quite what I wanted to portray him as. I guys I got caught up in humor and forgot how serious he's supposed to be right now. Oh well~ BTW, I might take this off of hiatus in a few months and start writing again, but it's pretty hard and long! This will be the shortest chapter of them all and I admit it's REALLY short. But, whatever! So, this was updated on 4/11/2015! **_

_**Enjoy~**_

I watched as the dark blue waves rolled on the ocean swirling around each other, rising and sinking with the tide. They gently shook the boat as a the white wake showed our distance over the ocean as the waves slapped the side of the boat. I felt the wind flow through my hair, blushing against my bare cheeks and hissing it's salty taste into my eyes. Every break I took forced the wet and pungent scent of salt rise from the sea with every wave we cut. It was all very strange compared to what I was use to. The color, the openness, the feel, smell, and chill. I found myself overwhelmed with it's very being, my heart beating faster every moment such a wondrous world flew by me.

"So kid, what's your name?" I was pulled back to reality by the echoing voice of the caption of the ship, his brown hair flapping around him as he faced away from the wind in my direction, his hat nearly flying off into the great expanses of the sea. He had been courteous enough to offer me a ride to some place called an island. It's sub-unit name was Vivosaur, where I would carry out my mission. I brushed my fingers through my red, pointed hair, feeling it's stringy texture from the sea air, brushing my fingers over the hard curve inside my hair and finding myself fixing my black crown like hat. My red shirt was ruffled by the wind and my legs were cold, because of the short, gray pants I was foolishly wearing.

"My name?" I asked back, eyeing him with glowing red eyes. "My name is Jackie."

"Let me guess, you're on your way to the island to become a fossil fighter, right?" The captain asked me. "All the kids today are becoming Fossil Fighters."

"I fossil fighter?" I asked quietly. I thought for a moment. If everyone expected it, then there must be a reason. Perhaps it's high ranking in social class or perhaps a noble and trustworthy cover. "Yes sir." I lied, not caring too much what I said, he was too dumb to see through it anyways. I did however feel a slight curiosity bubble up, my interests grasped by the duty.

"Yeah, I've seen that twinkle in your eye before. Your curious, ain't ya. You know, it takes a lot of courage to go out to Vivosaur island on your own. If you're out to become a fossil fighter than I imagine that you're a huge fan of Dinosaurs, right?" The captain asked. I narrowed my eyes. Dinosaurs. I had read of them- ancient creatures whose bones lay in the ground after millions of years of extinction. It WAS true, I found them fascinating. The way they could tear their victims apart, how smart some of them were, and their scailly body's that made them oh so perfectly terrorizing.

"Yes sir." I answered, turning back to the ocean, expecting the conversation to come to an end.

"Well then, which do you like, carnivores or herbivores?" He asked. Sighing, I complied with his wishes for a game of ask and answer.

"Carnivores, sir." I said, placing my elbow on the ship's wall and leaning my chin on it, looking out into the world.

"Little ones or large ones?"

"Big, sir."

"Hey, there's a piece of paper right behind out on a table. Look at it and tell me which one you like best, I'd like to know." Sighing, I pulled my chin up from it's rest and moved to the table, following the captain's instructions. As I went to stand in front the paper, I found that my eyes rested on one dinosaur in particular.

"I like Igno, sir. I like that one the best." It was huge with fiery crystals on it's back. Big teeth and careful eyes. It's body was red and it's entire being sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine. I turned my head away from the caption, my lip curving up in a diabolical smirk while a small, pointy tooth stuck out of my lip. My eyes lit up with an unbecoming joy as my imagination took over, imagining the pure destruction such a beast could cause. According to the scale, it would be about 40 ft tall- a giant capable of leveling entire neighborhoods. I let my mind ponder on such thoughts as a small speck of green appeared on the horizon.


	2. The Torture Begins

"Here we are, at the island. Enjoy your stay." Said the caption as I stepped off the ship, readjusting myself to the now still ground rather than the rocking one. I watched as he sailed away, a white rush of water left in his wake as he disappeared. I turned back to the island, my eyes roaming over it's expanses, finding myself underly impressed by what I found. It wasn't very much to be proud of- I have to admit, I expected more out of a place with dinosaurs- like dinosaurs being present.

It had three major buildings, as far as I could see. One was a tall, gold and white building with many windows. It's entrance had two neatly placed palm trees by it, about equal in size, the right one a little bigger and it had one long, brick walkway leading it. The building in the middle was a white and orange striped circular building with two long poles by its entrance and one big, red light above the door. The last one was a red building with yellow spikes by its entrance, curing around the walkway. This was gonna be a long stay. Seeing a flicker of movement in my vision, I turned my head to the right quickly, seeing two women approaching me, flinching in surprise from my intense gaze.

"Hello, I'm Beth. Welcome to Vivosaur island," One said, with long, brown hair. She had a blue, short sleeved uniform on with a long sleeved, yellow shirt on underneath. "Where the dinosaurs of the past lie asleep as fossils in the ground."

"Yes, welcome." Said another lady. She had a purple uniform on with a teal shirt on underneath and reddish hair. "My name is Sue and that's Beth." She said, repeating the other's name for some reason.

"This is Vivosaur harbor, Vivosaur island's only port. New people arrive every day. Some are just fans of dinosaurs, but some our new fossil fighters in the making." Beth said, starting to give me the rundown.

"We work hard as support staff for the fossil fighters." Sue said. It was already getting annoying how they were switching over and over again. Was this rehearsed or just in the moment annoyance? Either way, I hid my displeasure behind a stoic facade, looking at them blankly.

"In order to become a fossil fighter you'll have to visit the fossil center and talk to Dr. Diggins. To get to the fossil center..." Beth said, taking a pause to let me look at the fossil center with my harsh, red eyes. Why did everyone assumed I wanted to be a Fossil Fighter? It must be a big deal around here if everyone expected it out of everyone new here. And for a place that gets new visitors every day, it doesn't seem to be all that populated. Must just be a bunch of tourists. "Just go straight ahead..." She paused, blinking in confusion as something caught her eye. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a sight of what had caused Beth to stop talking. A man was running in a zigzag motion on the walk way. He wore a white lab coat with glasses. He had dark skin and short yet curly, teal hair.

"Whew! So much to do. So much to do..." He muttered under his breath as he wandered. A raised my eyebrow as the other slanted over, my eyelids becoming a lazy looking and my lips curved down in displeasure. Beth and Sue turned to look at him as he ran around in his irregular zigzag. "Not that...hmmm...No, that's not it either... maybe... no... Hang on a think...I've got it!" He said, suddenly stopping to sing himself phrase in the middle of the road. Beth walked over to him and engaged the strange man in a conversation.

"Excuse me, Dr Diggins..." Beth said carefully, trying not to surprise him while grabbing his attention. "I presume you're here to take our newest recruit to the fossil center?"

"What?! A new recruit? Of course! Always happy to show new fighters the ropes! Let me just... Change schedule... What were we talking about? Never mind. I'll see you later." Dr. Diggins said, turning around and walking back to the middle building.

"Well, that's the head of the Fossil Center, Dr. Diggins." Beth sighed. "He'll be responsible for giving you a fossil license... Good luck with that."

"Here, I'll show you around the fossil center. Please follow me, if you will." Sue said, starting to guide me down the path. I sighed, quickly losing patience for these crazy creatures that seemed to find themselves quite sane. I followed the lady, regardless of my displeasure. We walked down the path, kicking up some dust along the way, and stopped at the entrance of the middle building. "This is the fossil center. Please, go inside." Sue said, gesturing to the fossil center's entrance in a polite way. I gave her a curt bow and headed inside, leaving her in the entrance way. I looked around the building, finding it really nothing more than some white walls, bookcases, a few benches and a counter with a lady sitting behind. She was busy typing on a hidden computer, not noticing my presents. I walked towards her and she finally realized I was there, sitting up straight. I stopped a few feet away from her and she gave me a polite smile, turning properly to me.

"Welcome to the fossil center." She said, giving me what I assumed to be permission to step closer. She had long, greenish brown hair that fall around her shoulders in a similar fashion than the other two. She wore a green uniform and a purple shirt. From what I had observed, women were the proper greeters here and the most efficient workers, since the only man I've see walking on the island looked like a homeless nut. I walked over to the counter and continued with her speech. "Good morning, I'm Wendy. I take it you're here to register to become a fossil fighter? Dr. Diggins returned just a little bit ago, but he unforchantly wandered off again." I raised my eyebrow in question and she gave me a shrug, leaning back in her chair to a more relaxed position. "While we're looking for him I suggest you get checked into the hotel. Its right next door. See you soon." Wendy said, twisting away from me on her rolling chair and starting to type on her hidden computer once more.

I left the building and looked around. I turned to the left and found myself in front of the big, white building. Pushing down my complaints, I trudged over to the white building. As I walked by the palm trees I ran my fingers over the green leaf sticking out, flinching slightly at its delegate and cold surface, smooth to the touch and brimming with strange life. Tearing myself away from the strange organism, I stepped inside, finally finding a place that looked clean and proper. I was greeted by a man in a tuxedo, who stepped towards me politely, giving me a bow of the head before beginning his greeting.

"Welcome to the Relic Hotel, where we provide quality lodging for aspiring Fossil Fighters." The man said. "We've been expecting you, Mr. Jackie."

"Really?" I asked curiously. I had made no arrangements for my stay, but it must have been taken care of.

"Yes, your father called in about a room." I narrowed my eyes. I hadn't expected him of all people to call in about a room arrangement. Perhaps this person just claimed to be my father. "Right this way, please." He turned around and began to walk over to a blue door without hinges. The doors slid opened on their own and the hotel manager turned to me. "This elevator will take you up to your room." The hotel manager and I went up to the second floor and walked all the way down the hallway until we stopped at the final door, which was green like all the others. "This is your room. Please enjoy your stay." He said, walking away. I opened the door and walked inside, peaking around at my living arrangements. It was small with only necessary items- a bed, a shelf, and a bookcase. I looked around and walked out of the door. I had a feeling I wouldn't spend much time here, so there was no need to get a good look at it.

I went back down the elevator and exited the hotel, planning on trying the Fossil Center again. And, if he wasn't here, I would have to wait for him to come. Having a cover was a first priority and it couldn't wait until later. I went back to the fossil center, hoping that the Dr. was back.

"Welcome to the fossil center." Wendy said again as I walked up to the counter. "Oh, sorry to keep you waiting. Dr. Diggins returned, fortunately. You should talk to him before he wanders off again or else you may never get your fossil license." Wendy laughed. I narrowed my eyes, questioning it was actually funny in my head. "He's in the back room." Wendy pointed to the door on her left. I gave her a curt bow in politeness, causing her to blush and return the motion.

I moved past her, heading for the sliding door that lead to the room I was supposed to go to. Sure enough, there he was, thinking in the middle of the room. I approached him and I caught his attention with a cough after finding that a small approach wouldn't catch his eye like it did for Wendy, standing a few feet away from him.

"Oh, hi there! You're Jackie, right?" Dr. Diggins asked, in which I simply nodded my head. "No need to be a stranger, come in closer!" He laughed but I stood still, finding myself more comfortable from a distance. "I'm Dr Diggins. I'm the doctor and head researcher of the fossil center. Oh, sorry about before. I was a little...scattered, dare I say, before, you know?" He said, giving another chuckle. "Now, fossil hunting is fun, I should know, it's my life's work after all. I remember the first time I dug up a fossil. I accidentally broke my mother's favorite tea cup so I went to bury it in the yard. That's when I found it! My very first fossil! I went in to tell my mom and she ended up finding about the teacup!" The Dr said, going down memory lane. Meanwhile I was dumbstruck by this conversation. I finally catch him and he's babbling about something I not only don't care about, but is completely unnecessary in any way.

"...Sir?" I asked, catching his attention back from his flashback. Suddenly he jumped a little, snapping back into reality.

"Oh, right! Sorry. Well, come over here, please." The Dr said, bringing me into the back of the room with a large machine. "As a fossil fighter you search for fossils, dig them up, then revive them into Vivosaurs. Fighters strive to get stronger and stronger Vivosaurs and eventually try to become master fighters! Now, all you have to do is find some fossils, bring them here, and then clean them right up! Cleaning means that your smashing or drilling rock and debris off or away from the fossil. And bringing dinosaurs back to life is revival...and revived dinosaurs are called vivosaurs.

"I'll tell you more on that later. Now in order to revive them you must have at least the head and also..." At this point I started to drown his voice out. Man he could talk. Would they all talk this much? I sure hope not. "Hey, are you listening?" He asked.

"Yes..." I lied, looking away from him. He looked unsurely at me, sighing.

"Well, it's time to take the first step of any fossil fighter! Cleaning a fossil!" The Dr said, his cheerfulness coming back. He dragged me in front of the 'cleaning machine' and put a small, brown rock down in front of me, which I presumed to be a fossil. He started to explain the processed to me, turning away during his explanations and once again not paying attention to me.

I look at the fossil and found some tools next to it. A laser drill for which I presume to lightly chip away at the rock and a hammer which was probably used to break the first few layers of rock. Looking down at the rock, I found myself already knowing what to do. It was easy: chip away at the rock with the hammer and take away the final layer with the laser. Easy.

I started out with the hammer, just uncovering the first two layers out of three, which Dr Diggins was currently talking about. Next I took the drill and started to slowly drill off the final layer. He finally turned back around and discovered that not only had I stopped paying attention, but that the fossil was already halfway uncovered. He watched in silence as the last half of the rock was ripped off and the fossil was uncovered. I put down the drill and turned back to the doctor.

"How did I do?" I asked curiously.

"A-amazing! A 97, on your first time! This is your first time, right?" The Dr asked, suddenly unsure of his own knowledge.

"Yes sir." I answered.

"No need to be so formal, Jackie. Now, let's revive the fossil!" The Dr said excitedly, doing something to the fossil by putting it into a machine. He pressed a button on the machine and typed in some numbers: 2358472932853, causing the machine to blink alive and a bright light to erupt from behind the machine's glass. I looked right into the light, mesmerized by the strange glow. I heard the Dr telling me that it wasn't healthy to do that, but I ignored him. Finally the light died down and the machine gave a high pitched 'PING'. Suddenly, a little tray popped out, a small metal standing on it. The Dr picked the medal up and off of the platform, pushing the tray back in. He handed me the metal and I took it, feeling it in my hand. "Thats your new Vivosaur, Spinax." I looked at the mettle and saw a little picture of a dinosaur on it. At least it looked cool, but it was no Igno. But I took it anyways, knowing that Igno would come later.

"What's the mettle for?" I asked, not getting its significance.

"It's actually the vivosaur! Its an easier way of carrying them around, you know, so that their aren't 20 ft, human eating dinosaurs walking around town." He laughed, enjoying the conversation he was basically having with himself, since I was still not listening. "Now the only thing you have to do is go down to the fighter's stadium and go for your battle. It's the only other thing in this part town, besides the hotel. So what are you waiting for, go!" Dr Diggins said, pushing me all the way out the fossil center and right onto the street. "Good luck!" He said, disappearing behind the door, Wendy peering out at me in confusion. I sighed, shaking my head, letting my hair fall slightly out of place around the edges and hit my face. He was so weird.

I entered the building I was told to go in and, sure enough, there was a woman working the front counter, who, not only was just as polite, but she was also dressed the same as the other women. She had a pink uniform with a light blue shirt on underneath and pinkish hair. She looked a lot like Sue. She gave me the same introduction before informing me about a necessary test I would have to take, called a 'cleaning test' and directed me in the right direction to take it. She sent me into the room to the right. I entered and stopped in front of a thing. It was their that I met a little, floating, yellow robot.

"Greetings. I am KL-34N-VEEP." It said. Why...just...WHY?! Why did they have this robot here!? Why!? What is the purpose? I could have sworn I finally snapped at that point. There was not only no reason to make a robot but also no reason for people to waste their time doing that when they could be spending their time and money on more important things, like medical research. Also, the robot noises were getting annoying already. "I wish you the best of luck, Jackie-VOOP!" It said. "You must get 50 points or higher." It said before leading me off into some room at the end of the hallway we were in.

We went into the strange room and I soon found that it was rather dark inside with only a table in what I assumed to be the center of the room, a powerful, shining light hanging over it with a small cone like structure over it, sending the light down in one direction. There was a fossil on the table. I walked over and a timer started.

It was then that I realized that I was only given 90 second to do my work and got to work fast. I started to hammer and drill away at it, soon uncovering the fossil, but not finishing it in time. I still got a 86, so it was fine. We walked -the robot floated- out of the room and the robot directed me back to the counter.

"So you passes? Great! Well, that girl over there, her name is Tipper. She'll tell you all you need to know about fossil battles." The lady, named Tiffany, at the counter said to me. She pointed to a girl with a strange hat on, who must be Tipper. I nodded to Tiffany and gave her a curt bow before heading over to Tipper, who, noticing my presents, smiled. She signaled for me to go into the back room with her as she stepped in herself, so I followed her inside the back room.

I was beginning to find this Fossil Fighter thing far too time consuming at this rate. All I was doing was being lead around by people and given annoying speeches- some of with were a waste of time even for someone who wanted to be a Fossil Fighter. It had come to my attention that with all this work I was getting, I wouldn't get to complete what I came here for in the first place.

"This is the common room." Tipper said. "It's nothing special, but it's a good place to get ready for battle. Alright here's everything you need to know to about battles. Now, pay attention." She went over to a flat screen tv in the room and it turned on, showing a picture of dinosaurs. There were two of them. My spinax and some red one. Also a little screen appeared below it as well. "There will be a screen in your stand, like this one. Here you can control your Vivosaurs. Let's start with that screen layout. Now, over time you will get more points based on the total up of your Vivosaurs. The more you train, the more points, called LPs, you get. The person with the least amount of LPs goes first. Now, right now, based on your rank, you'll get 70 fps, with are basically the amount of attacking points. I'm not saying you can attack 70 times right now, or ever. The attack of Spinax costs 50 FP and you can only use one attack per vivosaur a turn..."

I had already begun to drown her out, finding most of the information she was giving me useless. I could have figured it out on my own, it didn't seem complex at all. It was simple enough to understand without her big long speech. It was becoming more and more evident that I would never get to have any time to myself.

"ALRIGHT!" I snapped out of my thoughts when Tipper suddenly shouted, catching my attention once more. "It's time for your test. Good luck! Just talk to Tiffany when you're ready for your battle." She shooed me out and I didn't hesitate to leave for a second. I left the room in a hurry before she remembered anything else and walked over to Tiffany.

"Please start the battle before she remembers anything else." I asked, at my wits end with all of this friendliness and conversations. Tiffany, however, found it quite amusing and laughed, annoying my further. Tipper could talk an army to death. The whole world if Dr. Diggins helped.

"Alright, the door on your right will lead you into the battle stadium. Just be careful, okay?" Tiffany said, pointing over to a door beside us.

"Yeah, yeah. If it means another lecture if I lose, you can be sure I'll win." As I stepped into the back room I could hear Tiffany just lose it in the main room and just start to laugh her heart out. When I looked forward I saw a rather familiar man in a beach themed shirt with a yellow, straw hat and brown hair.

"What's going on in there?" He wondered out loud, hearing Tiffany as she laughed. "Well it's good to see you again, Jackie! It's me, Captain Travers. Well let's get this battle underway!" Said the captain, who walked through the doors on the other side of the hallway. I was glad that he didn't talk nearly as much as anyone else around here. But that thought was short lived when I realized that the door he went thought was the way into the cleaning room. I narrowed my eyes, wondering how exactly we would have a battle in such a dimly lit place. But, as I looked closer, it seemed that it was now bright in the room, with light seeping through the door. Shrugging, I walked to the doors.

I walked through the doors and my eyes widened when I realized that instead of a boring cleaning room, there was an entire stadium now. People sat in the crowd, waiting for the match to begin. There weren't too many people watching and thoughts that were didn't seem nearly as interested as you would expect out of a crowd that was about to watch dinosaurs dook it out in a stadium right in front of their very eyes.

Shaking off my confusion, I moved over to the platform that I was directed over to. I tensed when the ground suddenly shook and found the platform I had been directed to was now lifting into the air. For the first time, I found myself rather impressed by all of the work that had been put into this. Suddenly, a touch screen showed up in front of me, causing me to jump back ever so slightly. Sure enough, there was the screen Tipper was talking about. I went to touch the screen but suddenly another screen appeared in front of it. I looked at it, confused. She never mentioned this. It was blue with about 5 ring- shaped slots in it. Suddenly another screen appeared over it with Tipper on it.

"Oh, yeah, by the way, that's the stat screen, where you fit your dino metals into the slots to show your using them! Just hit okay when you're done. Bye!" Tipper said before the third screen disappeared. My face twisted into something that was a mix of anger, terror, confusion, and shock. She had come out of nowhere and disappeared so fast I barely registered what she had told me. I sighed, thinking that even after getting out of that room and into the stadium my lessons weren't over. Shaking off my annoyance, I hit the Okay button after putting Spinax into the slot and the battle screen reappeared.

My eyes widened when a strange light come from the floor on the dirt stadium floor in front of me. A light came up and soon formed into the shape of a large, meat eating dinosaur, who resembled the dinosaur on my metal. Another light shown as another dinosaur appeared in the stadium, facing towards my dinosaur, Spinax. Looking down at the screen, I found a battle screen with information on the other dinosaur. According to the screen it was called Goyo.

Following what Tipper said, the machine designated the other dinosaur was stronger than Spinax and allowed me the first turn. I used the only attack option that I had, called the Spinax fang. Spinax roared and charged forward, sinking it's jaws into the other dinosaure. For the first time in years, I was overwhelmed by the battle and found myself nearly hypnotized by the fight. The other dinosaurs didn't try to dodge the attack, it simply took it. Spinax jumped back and ended up in the large, white circle it had appeared in, in the beginning of the match. I looked down and was shocked that something like Spinax Fang only did 20 damage, not enough to knock my opponent out.

Soddenly the 'end turn?' option appeared on the screen. After thinking for a moment, I clicked no, deciding it would be smarter to to find out some more about my opponent first, and to figure out what the green button was for. I clicked it and the opposing side's dinosaurs stats appeared. I only used this for a couple seconds, finally finishing my turn. My opponent placed his attack, which's name was displayed on top of the touchscreen as Rock head. The other dinosaur charged forward and knocked into Spinax, only pushing Spinax back a little and only doing nearly half the damage I did.

I was surprised to realize that there was already no way I wouldn't win with these states. On top of that, before my opponent's turn was over, the screen showed that Spinax did recoil damage each time he was hit. There was literally no way to lose unless I never attacked or I quit. I finished it off in a couple more turns, my opponent's dinosaur falling with a thump before turning back into light and disappearing.

Spinax let out a deafening roar of victory and began to glow, also turning back into light and then disappearing. My metals were released from the touch screen and I collected them. I headed out of the stadium after the pillar lowered to the ground, still fully in awe of a battle. It was something intense that made my heart speed up and my adrenaline rise to an all time high. I entered the main room where I found that the captain was waiting for me. He waved to me and I came over, stopping in front of him.

"Well how about that!" The captain said as I walked over.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"I guess that makes you an official fossil fighter! Well I guess I should be going now. Hey, ever need a ride, call me!" The caption said before turning and leaving the building. I found myself relieved that he was much more pleasant than the others here and much less talkative. Almost as if on cue, Dr. Diggins appeared before me with his big smile.

"Congratulations, Jackie! You've passed your fossil test with flying colors! I can now present you with your fossil license." Dr Diggins said, handing me a little business card sized piece of plastic. I looked at it. It had my face, name, and LV 1 on it. I looked closely at it when all of a sodden, Dr. Diggins tore it away from my grasps. I was still in a daze when he handed it back to me, now with a weird stamp on it. "Sorry, forgot the stamp. Now, that's full up proof that you're a fossil fighter! You'll want to get some rest now, but tomorrow you should head down to the practice sight, in the park, left of the hotel. Ahhh. I remember the day I got a fossil license. It was right at the time I..."

My eye twitched and my head thumped, feeling a headache coming on. Oh no. He's was going to tell another pointless story isn't he? I could feel it. His back was facing me and his eyes were closed as he was thinking back to the day he got his license. I looked around and spotted the door. My eyes widened and flickered back to the Dr when I realized I could just walk out at any time and he wouldn't notice for at least ten minutes. I started to slowly shift over to the door while I watched Dr Diggins as he continued talking. Just beyond him, I saw Tiffany holding back her loud giggling. I gave her a quick, red glare, saying that it was not funny in the slightest.

As soon as the doors opened, I scrambled out of there. I relaxed on my way to the hotel, ready to crash for the day. I ran my fingers over the palm leaf once more before entering the hotel. I made sure to look like I was in a hurry, so that no one would stop me- I even looked down at my wrist to pretend like I was looking at my watch with red, slitted eyes. As I hurried along, I spotted the Bell Hop wanting to speak to me. But, seeing as though I looked in a rush, he let me by without any words.

I went to my room and stumbled onto my bed. I didn't bother to get under the covers, feeling to exhausted from such a long day. I found that I forget to turn off the lights either, but I chose to leave them on anyways. The light was pretty and bright, something I barely saw since I was 12 years old. I shivered at the thought, pushing my face into the pillow. I never wanted to leave, but I had to. After all, thanks to me, this place soon would nothing.


	3. The Missing Medals

I woke up that morning on the floor with the covers of my bed draped around my body. I was woken up by the felling of rocking at an unusual pace and looked up. There, I saw a blue haired, brown skinned talkaholic of a professor, shaking me. I suddenly jolted up and accidentally said aloud: "Oh, god, you know where I live!" I quickly covered my mouth, regretting that.

"Ummm...yeah...I... asked the bell hop- what's wrong with knowing where you live?" He questioned.

"N-n...nothing. It's fine." 'Note to self, get a different room.'

"Well I came to give you this!" He said, handing me some kind of book. I took it and sat onto my bed. "It's a journal! Now you can record whatever you want. I WAS going to give it to you yesterday, but you disappeared when I was telling me third story...I think." Oh good, if I hadn't gotten out of their during the first one I would've had to listen to two more! "But, you also never got your sonar system and pickax, which, by the way, our the most important things for a fossil fighter to have, otherwise you'd just be diggin up the good grass everywhere and with your hands."

"Yeah, I was wondering how I'd do that." I said, taking a strange machine and pickax.

"By the way, like I said yesterday, you should head down to the trial dig site. It's-"

"In the park, right of the hotel." I finished for him.

"Well you were around for that part at least. Go talk to Bea Ginner to get the tutorial. She is also in the park. You should also get up now, maybe change your clothes...yeah...well see you later." Dr. Diggins said, leaving my room and closing the door behind him. I slowly got up and left my room. I went to the elevator, walked into it, went down to the first floor, and then was called by the hotel manager.

"Jackie, good morning." He said coming over to me. "Congratulations on getting your fossil license so quickly. Thats all. I wanted to say that to you last night but you looked like you were in a hurry. By the way, I hope you didn't mind me telling the Dr. were you lived." 1) My plan to pretend I was in a rush totally worked. 2) So he was the one who let the Dr. talks forever know where I lived! The manager turned around and walked back to his station.

I left the hotel and trudged over to the park. It was surprisingly...green. Green everywhere. I'd never seen so much green. I walked through the park, thoroughly amazed at it and I nearly tripped once or twice. A lady started to flag me down, so I assumed that she was Bea Ginner. I walked over to her and she smiled warmly.

"So you're the new Fighter, huh? My name is Bea Ginner. Please, no jokes." She said. Jokes? What did she mean by-ohhhh, I get it... Thats kinda sad, that name. "I teach all of the rookies who come here the basics of digging up fossils. Shall we go to the Trial Dig Site and get some hands-on experience?"

"Sure." It's not like I would be able to do anything at the moment, but the thought of another tutorial made my head hurt on the spot. How was I supposed to remember all this anyways? Bea Ginner led me into the grassy area that was behind her and stopped a short ways into it in a circle of dirt. "All right, let me show you how to use your sonar." I held out my sonar to her.

I took a closer look at it, now that it was out. It was a circle with a grid on it. It also had a weird bar on the side and one below it. The one on the side..well I had no idea, but the one at the bottom looks like words would be on it... or numbers. She took a place right next to me and pointed at a little arrow in the middle of the screen.

"The yellow arrow in the middle is you and your location according to the fossils. Now if you press the little button in the upper right or upper left of the machine's sides then you will activate the sonar and display dots were something is buried." She explained it in a complicated way but I got the jist of it. To sum it up, the buttons let you see where fossils are and the fossils appear as little dots on the screen. "Something buried means a fossil or a plain old, ordinary rock. You can't really tell until you dig it up. If you walk over to a spot where it says there's something buried there, all you have to do is dig it up with your pickax. Just don't stand on the dot, otherwise you'll be digging for a long time. Alright, lets practice. I'll bury three objects and I want you to find them and dig them up!" She turned around, dropped a rock in a hole and then covered it up. Than she walked to another place, dropped a rock in a hole, and covered it up. Than she repeated the motion one more time before looking back at me. "Now use your sonar to find the rocks." She instructed.

"What does this actually teach me?" I asked. She lifted her eyebrow and I shut up, dropping my head down. I clicked one of the button and flinched when a line went around the screen in a circle, while several dots appeared. I pressed it again, seeing that the dots slowly disappear after a little bit, and went over to the place the sonar said something was buried. I took out my unusually heavy pickax and started to dig. I finally got it and took it out of the hole. Suddenly the sonar's bottom screen lit up and it said, Spinax (Head) on it. Also the machine suddenly played a little victory toon. That would get annoying... Or continue to be amusing that they would actually think to add that.

"Congratulations!" She said. I was slightly confused at why she was congratulating me. All I did was dig up a rock...a rock that can transform into a battling dinosaur. "Thats exactly how you do it! Hmmm. That looks like a fossil that you already have revived. But if you clean it again than you may get a higher score. With a better-quality fossil, we can integrate more genetic data into your vivosaur to make it stronger. Anything you dig up you should put into your bag, to keep it safe." I looked at the fossil and then at her.

I didn't have a bag, I didn't even have any other cloths! Where was I supposed to keep it? Same problem with the sonar. Suddenly something was shoved into my face. I looked at it and after a couple seconds of thinking I decided that it was most definitely a bag that she was giving to me. I looked at her to confirm it and she smiled warmly. I took the bag from her and opened it up, putting the fossil into it.

"Now, that bag can only hold up to eight fossils. Beyond that you'll have to put some back. Now, keep looking for fossils."

I pressed the button again and two dots appeared on the screen. I walked over to one and dug it up, slowly getting exhausted because of my heavy pickax. Where was I even supposed to put that thing?! It's not like I have a-...oh... wait... I do have a bag.

I finally got the fossil lose and brought it over to Bea Ginner. She looked at me and smiled sadly. "Sorry, but that's really just a normal rock. It's unfortunate but sometimes that happens. Don't let it slow you down, just keep digging!" No wonder the little toon didn't play. I still was upset that I got tired over digging up an ordinary rock. Oh well. Suddenly my sonar played a little bit of 'You Failed' music, pissing me off. Who would put that in?!

"Did Dr. Diggins make these?" I asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" She asked, impressed.

"Just a hunch." I muttered. Dam that Diggins. I hope he digs a hole and can never get out.

I hit the side button once more and walked over to the final dot. Digging it up (Not very eagerly) I finally got it loose. The screen flashed on the sonar and the little toon played. Well, at least it wasn't a shoe or something. I looked on the screen and my face twisted up into displeasure. What did ? mean? On the screen, the display that once showed me what fossil was in the rock, now only showed ?.

"Umm...what does this mean?" I asked, holding the sonar out to her. She smiled warmly and explained it to me.

"Thats actually the fossil of a vivosaur that you have either not encountered before or just haven't cleaned, thoroughly or even once. You can only tell what's inside until it's cleaned. Now that you have a new fossil and are done with the tutorial for NOW, you should go over to the fossil center, for some cleaning." Bea Ginner said, secretly asked me to leave.

I began to leave while trying to figure out where my sonar and pickax goes. I ended up putting the sonar in the front pocket and the pick ax in the main compartment. I soon found myself in a weird part of town, heading east through it. There were a few buildings in it but now all I wanted to know was how to get to the fossil center. I wasn't paying attention so much that I didn't know which way to go, so I went east.

Sure enough, I found myself in town again. I went past the battling place and into Dr. Diggin's layer aria, whatever it's called. I went into the middle building and went into the room where I was cleaning stuff before. When I was in the room the first thing I saw was a floating, silver robot...What?

"Ummmm..." I said.

"Jackie!" Dr. Diggins said, appearing out of nowhere and scaring me. "Good to see you. Let me introduce you to KL-33N. He'll be assisting you with cleaning."

"Pleased to meet you-BEEP. I'm KL-33N, at your service-BOOP." Said the floating robot. What was with these things? Did humans get bored and say 'hey, lets building floating robots with arms that assist you with cleaning fossils!' 'Great idea. What will we call these?' 'Lets just put a bunch of letters, numbers and a dash in there somewhere and call it a day.' 'Great, lets get to work!' Or so, that's how I imagined it to go... Wait a minute...Ah! KL-33N! Or should I say KL-EEN, as in clean! AHHH!

"He's here to help you with cleaning fossils and to learn from you. He'll help you clean and revive everything the proper way."

"I'm unrivaled when it comes to revival. Ready to serve-BEEP."

"He'll also slowly get better at cleaning the more you clean. In other words you're teaching him how to properly clean a fossil. He's currently eager to learn. You'll get along nicely." What gave Dr. Diggins that idea? I don't like playing teacher. "Well I'm going back to work. Stop by my lab anytime, it's on the opposite side of the front desk. See yeah!" Dr. Diggins said, turning away from us and leaving the room.

"So, how may I serve you?" The robot asked. I cleaned my new fossil quickly, getting a good score and getting a new Vivosaur called Shanshan. I wasn't very interested in it. I liked Spinax much better but I think I heard something about being able to have multiple Vivosaurs at once.

I had to admit, I like the little robot. He was helpful and seemed to know what he was doing. When I finished cleaning my thoughts were interrupted when Dr. Diggins somehow hauled a huge, blue machine into the room. I walked over to it and Dr. Diggins, of course, started to talk.

"Ah, Jackie, there you are!" He smiled.

"I never left." I pointed out.

"Ha! What a good humored kid!" He smiled... What? "This is the Vivosaur Management Machine-or VMM for short." Dr. Diggins said. "It holds your Vivosaurs as medals for storage here and organizes them! It can also be used to make teams, matching up three Vivosaurs to fight together! Lastly you can select which team you carry around with you. Alright, I'll teach you how to use it." Oh goody, another tutorial. "Now, put your fossil license into the machine, like this." He said, taking my license and putting in in a slot right next to the machine.

I sighed in annoyance. I didn't like it when people took my things, or even touched for that matter. But he didn't seem to care. He just continued with the tutorial, like all the crazy humans on this island do. The heat and isolation must have fried their brains or something.

"The card slot is to make sure that you're using your own team, not someone else's. Now you can make three different teams and put them together right here. So far you only have one team..." Bla bla bla. "Here's where you can put together your team. The one in the red slot, which is currently Spiax is at the head of the team. The two blue slots are for the vivosaurs that stand on either side of Spinax. The green slots our for vivosaurs that our not in battle but gain experience with the other ones." Dr Diggins said, finally giving me info that was really useful at the time. "Alright, that's about it. See you later." He said, just wandering off, already starting to mutter about his work.

I put Shanshan in my team and headed out of the building. I went back to the tutorial aria, not knowing what else to do for the day and wanting to do a little more of this 'fossil fighter' stuff, now thoroughly interested in it. When I got back to the sight a girl in black cloths was digging around and a VMM machine magically appeared. She noticed me and walked over to me (Not the VMM).

"Oh, hi there! You must be new." Parton, I meant he, not she. "I'm Holt, nice to meetcha. By the way, you've only fought one-on-one battles before, right? So here, let me teach you two-on-two battles." He said. Wait, how would we fight here? Were in the middle of a field. "Oh, you've only been in a stadium fight so far, haven't you? Well here, take this!" He said, giving me a small device. "Press the button on it." Which button, there's two buttons. Oh, wait, that's not a button, that's...a thing.

I pressed the only button on it and suddenly a touch screen appears. Holt rushed far away before taking the same kind of device out, also taking out a touch screen. It was just like the ones at the stadium. Even the 'formation screen', as Tipper had told me it was, appeared over it at first. When I hit okay, are Vivosaurs suddenly appeared in front of us. Holt explained to me that was the reason she rushed away earlier. I fought her in battle while she explained to me a bunch of stuff I only sime-cared about and won.

"Wow, good battle! I mean, you beat me, and I'm pretty good. Well, see you around!" He said before walking off. I dug up some more fossils, went back to town, cleaned them, getting a higher leveled Spinax, and was soon getting bored. So bored that I wouldn't mind talking with Dr. Digg-

"Hi Jackie!" I whirled around to see Dr. Diggins standing directly behind me in the cleaning room, where I currently was. "Well, I heard that you've collected two Vivosaurs already."

"Yeah, I did." I said.

"Well, I think that you've outgrown the tutorial dig site and I've decided to give you access to Greenhorn plans!" He said.

"Greenhorn what's?" I asked.

"The Greenhorn plains! Its a digging sight that you can go to. All you have to do is ask Beth, down by the docks, for a boat to go there. Well, see ya!" He said, leaving me alone in the cleaning room. Greenhorn plains? Wait, who was Beth again? Oh right, the lady down at the docks! I left the cleaning area and the building and went down to the docks.

"Hello? Is this where I can go to Greenhorn plans?" I asked the two ladies who were currently in a game of poker. One of them turned to me, put down her cards, and smiled.

"Yes, it is. Are you interested in getting a ride down their?" Beth asked. I nodded my head and she pressed a button on a map she had. "Now, there is something I must explain to you. Unlike the town and trial digging site, the real digging sites all have curfews. Greenhorn's curfew is at 9:00 pm. You'll have to come back before then or you will be escorted off the premises. Alright, here comes the boat!" She said. Sure enough a boat was coming over and stopped in front of the dock. I got on the boat and it sped off. The boat sailed around for a little until another dock appeared. We stopped there, so I got off.

I looked around for a minute until the vast greenery finally started to register. I walked around for a little, finally remembering about my sonar and looking around for fossil. I found several new ones, a couple old ones, and the majority of what I found was Shanshan heads. I made my way to the back of Greenhorn Plains where I spotted a man in front of a fence. I walked over to him, curious of what he was doing.

"Hello, I'm an employee of the fossil center." He explained. "The aria past here is very rich with rare and amazing Vivosaurs. Fossil battles are strictly prohibited beyond this point because we can't risk damaging them. So, in order to get past this point you'll have to hand over your Dino Medals before entering. So, if you would like to enter you'll have to let me hold your medals. Would you please?" He asked, holding out his hand. I looked at him for a second before taking out Shanshan. I handed the medal to him and he smiled, then let me pass. I knew I didn't hand my Spinax over, but hey, I wasn't gonna listen to some dumb role. Besides, no one else had one, so I wouldn't have a need to take it out anyways.

I started to get to work, getting nothing but rocks. I dug another hole to find a strange brown...thing...It looked like a part of something. I shrugged and put it my bag for who knows what reason.

I started to get frustrated and finally snapped when I dug up a shoe. I walked to the exit and looked around. Where did he go? I looked around once again. Wait, this was my chance! I slowly took a small machine called the 'Target' out of my bag and placed it on the ground. I pressed a button on it, making leg like part come out of it.

Just as I was about to finish I heard someone approaching me. I quickly put the machine away and turned around to face a girl in pink clothes, a pink hat, pink hair in pig tails, and thank god she didn't have pink skin but after all day in the sun it was getting there.

"Hey, wheres the guy who was here?" She asked. I shrugged and she rushed around, looking for him. I watched silently as she went nuts. She turned to me and glared, causing me to flinch for a reason unknown. "Why are you so calm? Our medals were stolen!" She yelled.

"Well, I-" I said, taking out my Spinax dino medal.

"Wait, you have one?...Oh, it must of been to week so he left it here!" She concluded.

"Hey!" I said, wanting to defend my strength for some reason. After all, I was offended. "I happen to of tricked him by only giving him one of them!" I said. She gasped and mentally cursed at not doing the same.

"But wait, mine were super strong and were ready for a level-up battle! Wait, he said he worked for the fossil center, right?! So we should go there and look for him! Come on!" She said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me along. She brought us over to the VMM and clicked a button on it. Suddenly we were teleported to the dock in town.

Still dazed I was easily pulled along but the strong, scary girl. Man she was strong. I guess that happens when you carry the pickax around all day. We entered the fossil center and the girl confronted... Wendy was it? Grr, too many girls that look the same and do the same thing.

"I sure hope there's a good explanation for this!" She yelled. I struggled against the girl's grip on my wrist. I soon gave up. She was a monster of a girl.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Can I help you with something?" Wendy asked. The girl literally jumped up and down with rage.

"Help with something?!" She shouted, getting other people's attention, even Dr. Diggins stuck his head out of his room momentarily. "How about helping me get back my medals that your 'employee' stole from me and a bunch of other people in Greenhorn plans!"

"Greenhorn Plans? Let me check who was there today." Wendy started to type on her hidden computer and looked back at us sadly. "Sorry but there's no one there today, not anyone who is supposed to be their at least."

"W-what!? What do you mean no one there today!? Than who stole my medals?! This is bad!" She said to me. "We have to contact the police! It's in the guild aria! Lets go!" She said, grabbing ahold of the back of my shirt and dragging me out of the fossil center. She started to drag me to the police station before I finally started to walk. We went into the police station. Once inside an officer looked curiously at us.

"Can I help you?" He asked. The girl walked over to him, dragging me along.

"Yes, theres something wrong! We need to talk to Caption Bullwort right away!"

"He's in the room over there...as usual." The officer said, pointing at a door. The girl dragged me inside and approached the caption of the police station.

"Caption! Caption Bullword!" The girl cried out, getting the large man's attention.

"What's the matter, little lady? Did someone accidentally throw out your dolly or something?" He asked, which surprisingly got me really mad. I guess I didn't like those stereotypes.

"Hardly! Someone stole my dino metals! My dino metals!" The girl screeched. "I need police help immediately. He's probably out their stealing more metals as we speak!"

"This is serious! Do you remember what he looked like?!" The caption said, finally getting the intensity of the situation humans of the island were in, not that I really cared. He had the one I didn't really like to much. Who cares? Well...she does.

"Yeah! He had eyes like a lambeosaurus!" What kind of analysis was that!? "And his mouth was exactly like a anatotitan!" She said...Wow, just...wow... He so did not look like that.

"Finding this criminal might be tougher than I thought..." The caption said. Well of course it was! When she's the one describing a person she uses parts of dinosaurs to describe them. She didn't even say what he was wearing because he would continue to were it or even his hair or eye color! This was going horrible.

"But I had 10 dino metals! Do you know how long it took to get them all!? I had the perfect team all ready for a level-up battle! Wahhhh!" She said, starting to cry.

"C-calm down..." I said to her. "Whoever you are." Suddenly something snapped in her.

"Oh, no!" She cried out, making the both of us jump. "I've been dragging you all over the island and I haven't even told you my name! I'm Rosie! What's your name?" She asked.

"Jackie." I said.

"Jackie? Isn't that a girl's name?" She asked.

"My mom wanted a girl, alright." I snapped.

"You know I'd be really greatfull if you helped me find the thief 3" She said, getting all small and looking up at me with big eyes. What was she doing?

"Okay..." I said nervously, afraid she attacked me if I said no. Women must be better than boys hear. They work a lot more than boys and are a lot tougher.

"Wait a minute!" The caption said. "If you got a bunch of brand new dino metals than you'd want to try them out then, wouldn't you?"

"No." I whispered truthfully. What idiot would use stolen anything as soon as he stole it?

"We should look somewhere that fossil battles are held!"

"Some place like..." Rosie thought.

"Fossil stadium?" I finished.

"Right!" The caption said.

"Lets go Jackie!" Rosie said, grabbing my arm.

"Again with the-pulling-ahh!" I yelled as she started to tug me along. We walked/ got dragged over to the fossil stadium where Rosie pulled me in.

"Okay, heres the plan, you're gonna enter the fossil battle that the criminal is in, win, and get my dino medals back." Rosie commanded. She couldn't be serious, right?! Please say she isn't serious! "Alright, lets go!" Rosie said, pushing me over to the battle stadium after quickly handing Tiffany my license. I couldn't believe it. She actually was not only putting all hope on me but also expected me to figure out who had them! This was going to be a long day. I walked up to the podium and got on it. It still scared me a little when the podium rose and the touch screen showed up. The battle format screen also went up. I put my one Vivosaur medal in the slot and found out that my opponent had two.

Suddenly I felt that Shanshan wasn't so useless after all. At least Spinax was already at an absurdly high level for a rookie like me (lv 3). I went into battle. I took out his Spinax first and did it quickly, knowing that it was the stronger of the two. I took out V-raptor with barely any trouble at all. Winning felt great! I left the stadium and went to meet Rosie. "That was great Jackie! I guess I was right to put all hope on you!"

"Don't do it again." I said. Then Rosie turned to the man I was battling.

"I'll take MY vivosaurs back now, thank you very much!" Rosie said, putting out her hand. I tried to get her to cut it out, knowing something was up.

"Woah, woah, hold up! I bought these dino metals with my own money. Why do you think they're yours?" My previous opponent asked.

"You bought them?" Rosie asked. I put a hand in front of her, knowing perfectly well how to talk to humans after learning so much about them.

"Excuse me, I think we need to explain something here." I said. Rosie watched closely at my skills in aw. "You see, she was tricked out of her dino metals, told that they'd be returned to her. When she came back to get them, the person who was holding them was gone. He had stolen them. Rosie, here has reason to believe, and knows for a fact, that the metals you bought are actually her stolen ones." I said. My previous opponent's mouth dropped and he store in horror at the metals.

"I-I had no idea. I'm sorry! Here." He said, handing them back to Rosie who whispered a thanks. "By the way, I bought them from a man named Metal-dealer Joe! You can't miss him, his eyes are like a lambeosaurus!" Oh, so Rosie isn't the only nut on this island who uses dinosaurs to describe people!

"Thats him! Do you know where he is?!" Rosie asked, butting back in.

"I don't know where he is, but I first heard of him at the fossil guild. You should go, he may be there! I'll tell the police about this. It's the least I could do."

"Thanks!" Rosie said before jerking on my arm and dragging me out of the fossil stadium and into some store. We went to a man in there and Rosie started to talk, which, by the way, wasn't considered a good thing any more. "Excuse me, can you tell me where metal-dealer Joe is?"

"Lets see...He said something about having business in Greenhorn plains." The man said.

"He's there again!?" Rosie said, quite annoyed, but not as annoyed as I was at being dragged around. Speaking of being dragged around, Rosie grabbed my arm and started to drag me around again! I quickly pulled my arm away from her and she looked up at me, surprised.

"Look, you're nice and all, well not really, but your grip isn't. Please just let me walk on my own! I'm fully capable of it and I want to blood flow to continue to my hand." I hissed.

"S-sorry!" Rosie said, her cheeks getting red for some weird reason.

"Are you alright? Your cheeks our getting pretty red, you sick or sum'in?" I asked. She looked at me, confused and now we were both confused.

"I was blushing..." She said, twiddling her fingers for some reason.

"Thats when you're lying, right? What were you lying about?"

"No, not bluff, blush!" She corrected. I looked at her, now completely confused. "Listen, we'll talk later. Lets get to Greenhorn plans." She said, nearly grabbing my wrist again before pulling away and signaling me to follow. We went and got a boat at the docks, sailing back to Greenhorn plans. We went all the way back to the fence and sure enough, there he was. We went over to him and just as I was about to say something Rosie cut in. "Hey Metal-Dealer Joe or should I say Metal-STEALLER Joe!" Rosie said. Wow, I couldn't even express how horrible that was. "Give me and Jackie back our Dino Metals!" Suddenly the man jumped back, tearing off his cloths, now looking completely different.

"These metals? There mine, fair and square!" Metal-Dealer Joe said. "The only way to settle this is with a fossil battle. Beat me and their yours again!" He sneered. Rosie pushed me in front of him and I looked back at her like she was crazy. She simply shrugged. He took out a tiny machine that created a touchscreen and I took out mine. Oh great! 3 against one! I could hear Joe's laughter when I confirmed only one Vivosaur. Although it was only by a hair, I won!

Metal-Dealer Joe was so stunned he passed out somehow, dropping the Dino metals. Rosie hugged all of her Dino Metals and I secretly hugged Shanshan. I was actually really glad I had him back, now Spinax could get a little beak.

Suddenly the police came out of nowhere and handcuffed Joe. They thanked us and took Joe away. Rosie ran off after that, thanking me a million times and I used the VMM to transport me home, seem as though it was 8:46. We were cutting it close. I went back to the hotel and fell asleep on top of my bed, my dino metals laying next to me on the covers.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of explosions, causing me to drop to the floor, my dino metals following me. "Attention, please! Level-up battles will begin shortly! All fossil fighters our welcome to participate!" Said an echoing voice. All fossil fighters. I sighed, getting up and collecting my metals.

I went downstairs and went to the cleaning room in the neighboring building, cleaned a fossil and added V-raptor to my team (Lv 3 Head: 93 legs: 87.)

I walked to the fossil stadium, were large crowds were gathered. I had no idea so many humans lived on the island. I entered the fight prone building and walked over to Tiffany.

"What's going on?" I asked her, still have asleep.

"Level-up battles! If you attend, pass your cleaning test, and then pass your fighting test you can become a LV 2 fossil fighter. Would you like to join?" Tiffany asked. Level up? I guess all fossil fighters do it. It would be weird not to. I agreed, handing her my licence and going to the cleaning room that still made no sense to me.

"DEET-DEET-DEET! Time for your cleaning test-VEEP." KL-34N said as I entered the room. "You need at least 55 points to pass-VOOP. Lets go." We entered the room and I started to clean. I got a 89 on it, passing with flying colors. "Excellent! You passed your cleaning test-DEET!DEET!DEET! Go see Tiffany when you're ready for a fossil battle test-VOOP!" The robot said, turning away and leaving. I did as he instructed and signed up for a battle, entering the room to see Wendy, the one with the hidden computer.

"Hello. You may know me as Wendy, the fossil center's reseptioness. But today you should know me as the Level 1 Master, and your opponent. I'll be testing you, to see if your truly worthy of being a Level 2 fighter. I won't be taking it easy on you, so give me everything you've got." Wendy said, turning and entering the magically appearing stadium.

"I'd be no fun if you did go easy." I said. I took my place on the podium, getting better at the raising part. I went to the touch screen and assembled my Spinax, Shanshan, and V-raptor. Wendy had a V-raptor, Shanshan, and a Goyo. I clicked okay and we started to fight. I won easy, since I had 2 LV 3 vivosaurs. Although I was glad to have Shanshan back, I realized that it really wasn't too good of a vivosaur and would not work in any strategies I liked. We exited the fossil stadium quickly, since I didn't really like all the cheering. Me and Wendy met outside in the fossil stadium.

"Congratulations, Jackie! You've defeated the Level 1 Master! I hereby certify you for Level 2 Fighter status." Wendy said. She pulled out a card with my face, name, LV 2, and a stamp on it. "Now you can carry that one around, instead of the level 1 card. Although you can still keep and use it, I'd suggest only bringing this one around. Lots of fighters keep their old cards around, to see how they grew over the years."

I looked at both license. I did see a tiny difference in them. Wait, how'd they get my picture?

"Also, I have a word of advice for you, Jackie. There's a collection of journals on a bookshelf over there." Wendy said, pointing at the bookshelves by the entrance. "There's a section on level-up battles over there. You should check it out sometime. But today you can just bask in your victory. You've earned it. Good luck at becoming a master fighter, Jackie." Wendy looked over at Tiffany who giggled and pointed at me. Than Wendy laughed a little. What? Wait, did she know about the time I left while Dr. Diggins was-? Oh come on Tiffany, it wasn't that funny! Wendy waved and walked to the door.

"Hey Jackie!" I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around to see Rosie. She was with some guy in blue cloths and white hair. "Have you already leveled up?! I failed at my cleaning test pretty bad. When I finally passed I was crushed in my fossil battle..." She looked down, feeling bad about losing but she quickly brightened up. "But I'll try again soon. But first, Jackie, let me introduce you to my grandfather. He's a really important man around here!" Rosie said, sidestepping so that the man in blue could stand in front of me.

"How do you do? I'm Mr. Richmond." He said in a calm, deep voice. "I heard what you did for my granddaughter, regarding the stolen metals. I appreciate your help during the crisis. Thank you. I hope you and Rosetta will be good friends. You work well together." Mr. Richman said. We did NOT work well together! She scared the heck out of me, bossed me around, and then made me do all the work! "You may come by and visit whenever you wish to. Were in the Richman building." The big man left and Rosie went to her level-up battle rematch, leaving me alone.

I sighed, done for the day already. I left the fighter's building and headed to the hotel. The crowds had died down a little, allowing me to escape. I went into the hotel and went to my room, finally crashing on my bed and soon falling back asleep, my new license and dino metals by my side.


	4. Digadig Village

I awoke in my room two days later. I looked around, finding out that it was somehow 6:38 am. I yawned and got up, finally realizing I was on the floor again. I needed to start getting under the covers for once. My 3 dino medals were scattered on the floor around me and so were my two licenses. I collected my objects, placing my LV 1 license on the counter by my bed. I lazily threw the covers onto the bed and pulled myself together.

I started to collect my thing, putting my new licences in one of the front pockets with my sonar, my dino medals in the other front pocket and my pickax in the main compartment, also packing a sandwich for later. I left the hotel, deciding I needed to finish what I was doing in Greenhorn Plans. I walked down to the port, where Beth and Sue were sitting there, yawning. I approached them and they smiled.

"Good morning Jackie. Are you here to head to the new digging sight?" Beth asked.

"Theres a new one?" I asked, now confused.

"Every time you level-up you get to go to a new digging site. But, now that you're going to the new sights I'll have to see your license." Beth said. I handed her my new licences and she put it in a slot. I peaked at her map. Now two buttons started to flash. They must be the digging sights I can go to. "Would you like to go to Greenhorn Plans or Knotwood Forest?" She asked.

"Knotwood forest, please." I said, curious. She pressed a button and handed me back my license. I waited at the dock of the boat to arrive. When I got on the boat we sped off. Captain Travers kept talking about something called the Digadig tribe or something but I didn't really care. When we landed on the new digging site I got off the boat and watched it drive away. When I got into the site I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see a girl in- oh, wait, it was actually Holt.

"Hey Jackie, you're out early!" He said.

"Same to you." I said back.

"Did you know the shop reopened?! Its a really neat place. You can buy and sell things their, like fossil rocks or upgrade your tools! Just look at my sonar!" He said, holding his sonar out to me. I was surprised to see it with such a big screen, bigger than mine. "I already upgraded my sonar's monitor size. Now I can detect more arias! You should save up some money for them, they can get pretty expensive! See you around!" He said, heading to the dock. I went back to doing what I came here for, fossil hunting. I dug up quite a few new fossils, quickly filling my bag. I made my way to the back when a flash of pink caught my eye. I looked up to see Rosie conversing with someone.

"I'm sorry but this aria is currently off limits, so you can't go past." Said the man she was talking to.

"Why not?" Rosie asked curiously.

"I really am sorry but I was only told to keep people from passing because its dangerous. I'm sorry." He said back to her. "My boss was all like 'This arias off limits, make sure no one passes.' And I was all like 'Ok boss.'" The man said. I walked over to them and Rosie saw me.

"Jackie, you've got to hear this. The guy said I couldn't go past here because it's off limits!" Rosie said. _Off limits is off limits, no getting around it_ I wanted to say, but decided to hold my tongue, wanting as little of this as possible. "Why? Is it a secret? Dangerous? Both? I REALLY want to get in their know! Hey, lets ask my grandfather! Come on, lets go Jackie!" Rosie said, forgetting about my walking abilities again and dragging me along. She dragged me onto a boat, through town, into a weird building, and into her grandfather's room. Her grandfather looked over to us and smiled.

"Well, well. Jackie and Rosie! You didn't lose your medals again...did you?" Mr. Richman asked, eyeing me.

"Not that I know of, sir." I said.

"Grampa, can I ask you something? We want to go deeper into Knotwood forest but for some unknown reason it's off limits. They won't let us in!" Rosie complained.

"Ah, yes! Dr. Diggins-" The sound of his name now triggered the headache. "-said something about it... I can't remember what, so you should just go to him and ask. He seems to know everything happening around there these days." Mr. Richman suggested.

"I don't know, he seemed pretty busy when I saw him this morning..." Rosie said.

"Yes, your right. Maybe if you brought him a gift he may talk a little."

"Like what?" I asked, dreading the fact I was supporting the idea of seeing the talkaholic.

"Come to think of it, he has a weakness for Dino cakes. There actually selling some today at the shop in the fossil guild." Mr. Richman said.

"Dino cakes, got it! Lets go!" Rosie said, starting to drag me along again. This time there was no escaping her grip. She dragged me to the fossil store and over to a man selling stuff.

"Welcome, our you hear for today's special, Dino cakes?" The man asked.

"Yes please!" Rosie said.

"Well, I only have one left. That would be 50 gs." He said. Rosie looked through her pockets and frowned. She then turned to me. I sighed, pulling 50 gs out of my pocket and hesitantly handing it to the clerk. He handed Rosie the cake and she dragged me out of the shop. We went to the fossil center and went into Dr. Diggin's room, where we found him rushing around a lot. He noticed us after about 5 minutes of standing here and came over to us.

"Hey Jackie, Rosie. Is there something I can help you with?" Dr. Diggins asked.

"We're trying to get further into Knotwood forest but we were told it was off-limits." Rosie said.

"Deeper? I'm sorry, thats not possible right now! There's been an incident in the Digadig's village and I ordered the aria closed for safety reasons. An investigation is being held right now by a famous Fossil Fighter. But come to think of it... We haven't gotten word back since yesterday. I hope nothing's happened..." Dr. Diggins said, turning around and thinking of the worst case scenario right off the bat.

"In that case," Rosie said. "You should send us to go check up on the fighter!"

"Oh, boy, what should I do...? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Whew, I'm exhausted. I wonder if I've been working too hard? I sure could go for a sweet snack..." I peered over at Rosie, noticing that he just talked himself into her plan and saw her smirk.

"Hey, what's this? Could it be a package of delicious Dino cakes?" Rosie said, causing Dr. Diggins to lift his head. "Wanna split them, Jackie?" I gave her a look saying 'don't drag me into this!'

"D-D-D-D-Dino Cakes?! The shopkeeper said they were sold out already! I've been craving them for so long and badly. Oh no, I can smell them from here!" Dr. Diggins said, clenching his fists, trying to resist just taking them.

"Really? I'm sure we can make some kind of agreement." Rosie said. "Oh, hey. WE'RE trying to get Knotwood forest access, weren't we? Sound fare, Dr. Diggins?"

"Hmmmmm... I'm not sure that's such a..."

"Oh well, come one Jackie, we'll have to eat these all now."

"NO! WAIT! I'll give you a clearance card for Knotwood Forest! Now give them here! Dino Cakes! I must have them NOW!" Dr. Diggins said. WOW, he has a vicious side! It's kind of scary! "Give me the sweet, sweet Dino Caaaaaaaaakes!" Dr. Diggins said, making me flee from the room, Rosie calling after me. We're all humans NUTS!? Wendy peared at me, confused.

"Dr. Diggins is scary when he's craving Dino Cakes." I said, curling up on the counter's wall. Soon Rosie came out and put her hands on her hips. "Don't judge me. He was going nuts!"

"He said 'sorry about that.' Come on, we have the passes, lets go... Oh get off the floor!" She said, grabbing the back of my shirt and dragging me through the hallway, literally. Wendy gave me a pitiful look as I was being dragged around. The concrete road was a lot harder than the smooth, granite floors. She dragged me to the docks and held out her license. "Knotwood Forest please." Beth looked at me, confused before slipping the card into the slot. Sue came over to me and helped me up, feeling bad that I was being literally dragged around.

The boat came and Rosie, still holding the back of my shirt, dragged me onto it. We sailed to Knotwood Forest and Rosie eagerly ran to the man with her axes cards. By the time I got there the man had already stepped out of the way and I followed Rosie into the maze like forest. We walked, for once, through the forest quietly. We soon found ourselves by a small village. We entered the village with humans wearing weird masks. We walked in and looked around for a minute before hearing some one.

"Hellooo...digadig." Someone said. We spun around to see a man with a skull like helmet in weird clothes. "I... am the chieftain of Digadig Village... which is... this place... here, digadig." He said. "We are faced with a very, very... hard... difficulty... digadig."

"What's wrong?" Rosie asked.

"The Digadigamid, behind our village, is our... sacred place. Many... treasures our hidden inside, digadig." The chief explained. "Deep inside we have our treasure... room. The ancestral key to that room was... stolen. Also, the fighter that came to... help had not come out for days, digadig. I ask you, young fighter boy, young fighter girl... will you recover the key and keep our sacred Digadigamid... safe? Digadig?" He asked.

"Of course, we'd be happy to help, Chieftain! But why have us help? Wouldn't one of your people be better?" Rosie asked.

"Thieves are able to fight... Fossil Battles... Digadig... We Digadigs cannot use your... Dino medals... so we have no way to fight these thieves, digadig. Honestly, these... Vivosaurs of yours... Scare my people, digadig."

"In that case, leave it to us!" Me, I mentally corrected Rosie. "We'll help!" Rosie said. "Right Jackie?!"

"Sure." I shrugged.

"Gratitude is as large as a T-Rex with a full belly! We will make this task worth your while! Digadig!" The chieftain said.

"Worth our while!? Like a reward or something? Sounds exciting, doesn't it, Jackie?!" Rosie asked. I simply shrugged. Suddenly the chieftain started to shake his hips. What was he doing?

"Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Diga... Diga... DOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The chieftain shouted, making a large pillar of lightning come crashing down on Rosie. I jumped away, scared out of my mind but frozen in place. She screamed before passing out for a second. I knelt down and poked her. She lifted her head and started whipping her arms around.

"What do you think your diga-doing?! That really hurt! Ohhhh... I feel a little diga-dizzy." Rosie said.

"Diga?" I asked.

"Hu? What's the diga-deal? I don't want to say 'diga' but I keep dings-doing it anyways! Aagh!" Rosie said.

"You are now blessed with a... bond between you and the Digadigs. This will bring you eternal joy, digadig!" The chieftain said.

"Eternal joy!? How dinga-dare you! How am I supposed to have a d-d... d- d- DIGA- DISCUSSION without saying 'dinga'?! Waaaaaah!" Rosie yelled, starting to cry. "I feel like I'll have to stay in this diga-dang village forever! No! I can't stay here... DIGA!" Rosie cried, passing out on the spot.

"You are diga-displeased? Forgive me. I only intended to show my thanks from the diga-depths of my heart. Young fighter boy, we will watch over your friend, digadig. Would you please recover the key, digadig?" The chieftain asked.

"Sure." I said, glad to have a chance to get her out of my hair and into someone else's.

"Many, many thanks, young fossil boy, digadig! The Digadigamid is behind the village, digadig!" I walked behind the village and sure enough, there it was. I entered the strange building and looked around. I saw a man, dressed in a weird blue uniform with a Santa hat on. Weird.

"I've been given strict orders to stop anyone who tries to get into these ruins." He said.

"By who?" I asked.

"I'm not telling you!"

"Why, were you given orders not to?"

"I'm not supposed to!"

"But were you given direct orders not to? Or are you just guessing?" I asked.

"J-just-ahh! I don't think so but it's against protocol! Look, if you don't leave I'll have to fight you." He said.

"Okay, lets fossil battle." I said, taking my battle device out and clicking the button, creating the screen. The man stepped back and did the same. We put our Dino medals in the slots and started. I won easy, granting me access to the rest of the place. I continued down the hallway, finding a quick fossil or two before running into a dog, also dressed in the blue cloths.

"Bow! Bow wow!" It barked. It took out a battle device and clicked the button. I had to battle a DOG?! What were humans teaching their animales?! It had two vivosaurs, a Nodo and a Megath. I won, but it was sadly tougher than I thought it would be. The dog growled at me before running further into the place. I also went further but stopped at the sound of a voice.

"Heh. Check out the adventurous little Fighter, sniffing around other people's business!" Said a voice. I got my battle machine out and ready for another brawl. A man with another blue uniform and... and... what was with his nose!? It was freaky how long it was. Soddenly that dog came up behind him, barking at me. "All right, little fighter. If you knew what you were in for you'd have turned tail already. I guess I'll show you your big mistake." He said, taking out a battle machine.

"I've already determined victory against you is surtan." I said, hitting the button and starting the battle. He had 2 vivosaurs, a Carchar and a Goyle, which stood no chance against me. The long nosed man and the dog both backed up.

"WAH-?! You beat me?! But you're just a kid!" The long nosed man said. The dog barked a few times before the man turned to him. "I was just thinking the same thing. It's time to break out the good stuff-my sure fire knockout punch! You won't believe the special move I've been holding back. Just wait right there for it. Heh." He said. He slowly started to back up. Was he going to run away or something? Suddenly he spun around and pressed something. A hole appeared under me and I fell down, hitting my head hard, blacking out.

"Hey, are you alright?" Asked a voice. I finally started to come too, seeing a woman with red hair leaning over me. I got up and so did she. "Good-you're awake. Guess you're not dead, then." She said. I shook my head and peered around the room. "My psychic powers tell me that your name is Jackie and you're a level 2 fossil fighter. Am I right?" She asked. I jumped back and looked at her in disbelief. I didn't think humans were capable of such things! "Nah, I'm just kidding about the psychic powers! Your fossil licences fell out of your bag when you fell. By the way, you do realize that theres a strap on the side of the bag to put your pickax in, right?" She asked.

I looked at my bag and finally noticed the little ring odd leather on the bag for the pickax and slapped my forehead.

"I'm Nevada Montecarlo, by the way. I'm a fighter who specialises in expeditions in dangerous places. The fossil center hired me to help out over here and investigate this place. Those guys are called the B B bandits. They're the ones that tricked us into that hole we fell from. The BB bandits are a secret organization that just can't keep out of trouble! Illegal fossil trading, destruction of digging sights, you name it. Their just a bad bunch. Right now there after the Digadig's treasure, but I'm gonna finally put a stop to them. I've been reading carvings on the walls here... They seem to mention a ... key? No.. Better! A Keymonite! FANtastic! A Keymonight is an ancient creature, sort of like an auminight, but acts like a natural skeleton key. If we find one, were free. But my sonar's busted."

"Here, I can help with that." I offered, taking out my sonar only to see that it was also damaged.

"Oh, no." She said.

"Don't worry." I said. I flipped it over and used my nails to unscrew it. I looked inside at the wiring. Easy peazy! I started to shift the wires around and plugged one more in before I heard it turn on. I started to use it, quickly finding the Keymonight.

"Now it needs to be cleaned, but very carefully." She said. She took out some tools and handed them to me. "Sorry to break this to you, but I'm horrible at cleaning. You should do it." I cleaned it nicely, shocked at first about how easily breakable it was. She put the keymonight into a keyhole and a ladder dropped down.

"How does that work?" I asked her.

"Dunno, but who really cares?" She said, climbing up the ladder. I followed her up the latter, finally free. "Alright, lets hurry!" She said. We rushed through the hallway and found a staircase. We went up it and soddenly Navona stopped, looking at an open door. "Oh, no! The door to the treasure chambers already opened. We need to hurry!" We rushed forward and there stood the dog and long nosed man. "Alright, nobody move!"

"Bow?!" The dog barked.

"Hey look! The adventurous dame teamed up with the pipsqueak fighter to fight us. Adorable. Wait, how'd you even get out?! That thing was escape proof!" The long-nosed man said.

"Hardly. Turns out a level 2 fighter could break out of there!" Nevada said. "So, because you needed a trap door to defeat us separately before, how will you deal with two of us now?"

"Grrr." The long nosed man growled.

"Do you two think you could drag your feet a little MORE!?" Said a lady's voice who was obviously angry at the man and dog for being slow.

"Oh-no, she's back! Quick look busy!" Said the long-nosed man. Suddenly a woman with light blue hair walked over.

"Oh, don't you two look... adventury? Quite a duo-Ranger red and fossil boy. I'm trembling with fear." She said sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah, you must of heard of us then," I said sarcastically, stepping forward. "Barky, big nose, and sassy mic talks a lot." I addressed them, pretty fed up with being called fossil boy and pipsqueak.

"You've got a lot of nerve, kid!" She yelled.

"Yes, actually, I do."

"So, you two loafers lost to a kid, then?" She asked her lackeys.

"Lost?" I asked. "They didn't lose, they just failed in general."

"Hey!" The long nosed man yelled.

"Thats actually pretty good for a boy your age. I suppose in order to be a real opponent we'll have to introduce ourselves. Man's best friend here is Rex. If you happen to know what he is or where he's from, please, let me know. The man with the large nose is named Snivels. The nose isn't just for show, he can smell better than Rex. And me? I'm the one stuck leading this bunch, Vivian. But you can call me 'Archenemy'." She said.

"Jackie." I said, holding my battle machine closely.

"Vivian... I've heard of you..." Nevada said. "You're pretty high up in the BB Bandit's organization."

"How flattering." Vivian said. "I'd love to chat but we have what we came for, so we'll be leaving. Rex. Snivals. Time to go."

"Only if you think you can beat both of us, Vivian. Ready, Jackie?" Nevada asked me.

"I really don't think I have a choice, so yes, I'm ready." I answered.

"So sorry," Vivian said. "But my battling schedule is all full right now. No time to play with you two, I'm afraid. Rex!" Rex bolted past us, causing us to fall over. The other two rushed past us while we were down. Suddenly a big black wall came up and blocked the exit. Shocked, we rushed over to the door and started to bang on it.

"Locked!" Nevada exclaimed.

"Don't worry, heroes." Vivian said from the other side. "I'm sure someone will dig you out... In a few million years when your fossils yourselves! Toodaloo!"

"No, they've got the treasure! It dates back thousands of years and now it's gone... We can't let them get away with it! There must be some kind of way of opening it..." Nevada said.

Suddenly we heard something growling. We spun around and looked over the room. Nothing but a couple of rocks. Suddenly something waved over the rocks. We got ready, incase something would attack us. Something ducked out from behind the rock and looked at us. It was quite small, gray and white, had a long nose with something wrapped around it, two big ears, a tail, and four legs built for speed. It looked at us curiously and Nevada pulled me back, harshly.

"Hey!" I said, not appreciating the fact that multiple people were using me like a rag doll today.

"Get back, that's a wolf, their dangerous!" She screeched.

"That little things dangerous? It's so small..." I said.

"It's only a pup, but it's parents our probably around here somewhere and they're a real threat!" I looked at the little thing. It was dirty and looked thin. There was something wrapped around it's mouth, keeping it from opening it's mouth. I got out of Nevada's grabbing distance and approached the small wolf. "Careful!"

"It's alright. Come hear little guy." I said, kneeling down and putting my hand out. It slowly started to walk towards me, very cautious of me. It stopped for a second, hesitating, but finally came over to me. It smelled my hand and looked up at me before scratching at the thing wrapped around it's muscle. "Here, let me get that off of you..." I said, slowly unwrapping it. It fell down by it's side and the small creature looked at the rope lying on the ground. Then it turned to me, jumping up and licking my face.

I pulled away for a second but then came back to it. I opened my bag, remembering something, and pulled out the sandwich I brought with me. I held it out to the wolf and it started eating. Nevada came over and also bent down, petting the little wolf as it chomped down on the sandwich. Suddenly it pulled back, and started scratching at the ground, between the two rocks. We walked over to it and saw a small hole there. Something was under there. I started digging, too, and soon found a hole, leading somewhere.

"A secret tunnel!? Wow, who knew the wolf knew how to get out?" Nevada said.

"His name is Fang." I said, causing the little wolf to bark.

"Your naming it?! Are you sure thats a good idea?" Nevada asked. I grabbed Fang and hopped down the hole, landing on the first floor. I stepped out of the way and Nevada dropped down. I put Fang down and he sat by my leg.

"Sure it's a good idea. Who knows where it's parents are, certainly not in that room. So I'm gonna take care of him." I said, now beginning to get attached to the tiny, helpless wolf already. She sighed and dropped the subject, seeing it as a no win situation for her.

"Well the BB Bandits our still inside. From here we can force them into a battle. I think I can take them but I'm glad you're here in case, Jackie. Alright, lets get some treasure." She said, cracking her knuckles. We waited by the entrance for them to come and sure enough, with a warning growl from Fang, they showed up. They were shocked to see us at first but kept cool.

"Well, I have to admit that I'm a little impressed. How did you escape from their?" Vivian asked.

"Sorry, its a secret." Nevada said. "But, tell you what. If you hand over the treasure, I'll tell you."

"No thanks."

"Well then, I hope you're ready to take on Nevada Montecarlo, dino duelist... Wait, my dino medals?! There gone! Jackie, sorry but could you...?" As soon as I realized that I was the only one able to battle I stepped forward, Fang following loyally, and pressed the button on me battle device.

"So your gonna step in and fight me in her place?" Vivian asked. "As you wish, but I must warn you, my Vivosaurs our FAR more powerful than Rex's and Snivel's."

"Thats still not very impressive to me." I said, starting up the battle. Vivian had a Lambeo and a Nychus. I took care of them quickly, only getting a bumped with Lambeo combo. Vivian took a step back, surprise at her loose.

"H-how did you-? I've never lost before!" Vivian said.

"Hand over the stolen goods, now." Nevada commanded them. Rex and Fang had a little growl off for a minute before Rex backed off.

"Fine, take them! And your stupid medals too!" Vivian said, throwing them on the ground. Nevada picked them up and walked back over to me. "You won't be lucky twice, child! Next time we meet, I'll crush you." Vivian said, running back into the temple place.

"Wait, Vivian! Viviaaaaaan!" Snivels said, rushing after, soon followed by Rex. Fang started after them but I called him back.

"Fang, here boy!" I said.

"That was amazing, Jackie! Your really good. And we got the Digadig's treasure back! I couldn't of asked for a better partner on the field if I tried. Alright, lets bring them back to the village and tell the Chieftain the good news." Nevada said. Fang barked and we left the large temple. We walked to the village and approached the Chief, who happily awaited our arrival. Nevada handed him the treasure and he inspected it.

"Ohhh! This is... definitely the stolen key to the treasure chamber, digadig!" He said. "Young Fighter boy, you have done a great... service for the Digadigs, and for that, I thank you, digadig!"

"Just don't hit me with lightning." I said.

"Chieftain, we also recovered a treasure that was nearly stolen." Nevada said, holding some kind of statue. "I've studied a lot about the Digadig culture, but I've never seen anything like this idol."

"You are mistaken, red-haired Fighter woman. This is not originally a treasure of the Digadigamid." The Chieftain said. "Not long ago, I dug a hole to dump some food scraps and found this, digadig. I put it there because I thought it was neat and... pretty, digadig."

"I don't get it. There was so much more valuable things in there, so why'd they try to steal this of all thing? No offence to your style, but why did they want this tacky idol?"

"Could the value of this treasure just be... hidden from us, digadig? Ah, the idol should be a suitable reward, digadig, for returning our valuable treasure, the key, to us, digadig!" The Chieftain said.

"Umm, no thanks. I don't need a reward. I'm sure Jackie would want it." Nevada said.

"Sure, its kind of cool." I said, taking it. Nevada gave me a 'really?' look and I gave her a 'Why so shocked?' look.

"The Digadig people our most grateful for your help. Take the idol so that we may... idolise you, digadig!" The Chieftain said.

"Grateful, schmateful, diga-dude!" Someone said. I turned my head to see Rosie marching over, angrily. "Jackie got your precious key back-now take this diga-darn spell off me!" Rosie showed.

"Who is that?" Nevada asked me."

"My aquantus, Rosie." I answered.

"Are you sure? I find it much easier to understand this way, digadig." The Chieftain said.

"It's nearly the same as normal speaking..." I muttered, causing Nevada to nod.

"Just diga-do it!" Rosie shouted.

"As you... prefer. I will remove the spell, digadig." The Chieftain started to shake his hips, back and forth, creating that awkward moment again. "Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Digadig... Dig, diga... DOOOOOOO!" Suddenly the pillar of lightning came down and struck Rosie again, scaring Nevada and causing Fang to jump into my arms, whining.

"AHHHHHH!" Rosie fell onto the ground again, dizzy from the lightning.

"Is she... dead?" Nevada asked.

"No... I don't think so." I said. Fang jumped out of my arms and sniffed Rosie.

"The spell has been... removed, digadig." The Chieftain said.

"Ahhh, a wolf!" Rosie said, jumping up and away from Fang, scarring him. "Hey, I can speak normally again!...Digadig." She said, covering her mouth suddenly. "Wait, did I just say digadig?... Digadig. No, no NO! Not only is the spell still on me... now it's even worse!... Digadig."

"There are some times... complications in spell removal, digadig." The Chieftain admitted. "Just go about your business and it will go away. For now you will have to... diga-deal with it." He said, laughing a little. Was this Earth humor?

"NOOOOOO!" Rosie said, crying again, making Fang lie down, putting his paws over his eyes and whimpering a little. "Why is that Wolf here!?... Digadig." Rosie asked.

"Oh, this is Fang, my new dog... wolf..." I said.

"Thats a wild animal, not a pet!... Digadig." Rosie screeched.

"Nah, he's cool." I said, looking down at him. He lifted his head, wagging his tail and barking.

"Arf!" He barked.

"I'm more of a... cat person... just make sure to watch it closely, okey... digadig." Rosie said. I picked Fang up, bowing to the Chieftain, and leaving. I headed through the maze of trees, Fang following closely while Rosie stayed farther away. Nevada had disappeared into the woods somewhere, not that I cared. I patted my shoulder bag, feeling for the idol in it, just in case it fell out or I forgot it. I liked it. It was strange.

We got on the boat home, taking a few minutes to get Fang on and twice as long to get Rosie on a boat with a wolf. This felt like one of those riddles I heard when I was little, about how to get the Fox, Cow, Sheep, Dog, and Cat all across a river without them mauled each other. I've always wondered something, once you got them across how did you keep them from fighting when you were gone, or even in the first place, when you're just starting? Life's riddles are strange, with lots of holes in them, especially Earth's. We caught sight of the dock and Rosie kept yelling to go faster. As soon as we docked Rosie rushed off the boat, getting curious glances from Beth and Sue. I jumped off and helped Fang onto the dock. Beth and Sue watched in absolute horror as I let a wolf down in the middle of a populated area. I ignored them and walked all the way to the store. I got more strange stares there, but just ignored them.

"Do you have any leashes here?" I asked the salesman. "And possibly a collar?" The man, spotting the wolf looked at me in the eye and said:

"You know thats a wolf, right?"

"Yes sir." I answered calmly, getting my wallet out. The salesman sighed, bending down to look for my requests. He soon came up with a pink collar and leash.

"Only ones I've got. 300 gs." He said. I looked at him, amazed at the price. I complied, taking out 300 gs and handing them to him.

"What about dog food? I know, it's a wolf." I said. The man checked again, soon pulling out a big bag of dog food.

"100 gs." He said. I took out 100 gs and handed it to him.

"One last request. Could I have two dog bowls?" He sighed, looking once again for my request and pulling out two dog dishes, one blue one red.

"50 gs each." He said. I took out 100 gs and handed them to him. He pocketed the money and smiled. "Have a good day." He said. I took the collar and leash and strung them around my arm. Then I put the two dog dishes into my bag, resting nicely on top of the idol. Finally I picked up the dog food and carried it out of the store, Fang trotting closely behind me. I stopped outside, putting the food down and taking the collar and leash off my arm.

"Here boy." I said, calling Fang over to me. He complied, rushing over to me and putting a paw on my leg when I knelt down. I snapped the collar around his neck, fitting it nicely. I snapped the leash onto the collar and tried it out. Fang, being the smart wolf he was, knew to walk next to me and not to rush away.

I picked up the dog food and walked him all the way to the hotel, where I had to stop for a second to hoist the dog food back up. The hotel manager watched as I carried it to the elevator and got into it. I had to hold the door for Fang, since he was a little scared. We finally got to my room, where I dropped the food on my bed and took a second to catch my breath. I finally unhooked the leash from Fang, letting him explore for a minute.

I went into the small bathroom that I never bothered to go in before and turned on the faucet, taking out the blue bowl and filling it with water. I brought it back to my room, nearly forgetting to turn off the water and placing the bowl of water on the ground. I went over to the dog food bag and opened it. I dropped my sholder bag on the bed and took out the red bowl, filling it with dog food and putting it next to the water bowl. Fang rushed over to the bowls and started eating and drinking. He must of been stuck in their for a long time with that thing around his mouth.

I went to my bag, pulling out the idol and putting it on an empty shelf. I yawned, ready to sleep and sat down on my bed. I pulled the bag of dog food off my bed and over to the opposite side of the room, dropping it and returning to my bed. I layed down on my bed and closed my eyes, falling asleep immediately.

I awoke in the morning on the floor. I blinked a couple times before looking around. The covers were semi-dragged off the bed and my bag was laying by me. Fang was asleep, laying his head on my stomach as my stomach went up and down with each breath. Fang's ear twitched and he lifted his head, wagging his tail and licking my face. I sat up and stretched, Fang copying me. I got up, reluctantly, and went to fill the dog bowls. First I refilled Fang's food dish and then I went into the bathroom to refill his water dish. I set them down on the floor and Fang finished his meal quickly.

I sat down on my bed after throwing the sheets back on and yawned. Fang grabbed his leash and brought it over to me. Man he was smart! I yawned before clipping the leash onto Fang's collar and grabbing my bag. We left my room and headed for the lobby. We walked through the lobby, getting a couple stares now and then. I exited the hotel to see Rosie, just standing there, tapping her foot.

"I didn't know we were meeting in the mornings now." I said sarcastically, making Rosie turn around and jump back when she said Fang.

"Uhh-uhh- nice wolfy." She said nervously. "Um, Jackie. Well, umm, that was a weird day yesterday, right? Well I'm all better now. I haven't said 'diga' once today. Well, I told Dr. Diggins all about what happened... including the new wolf." Rosie said.

"I see you kept the wolf." I turned around to see Nevada standing there. "He looks cute with the pink collar. Are you two heading off on another adventure today or are you going for today's level-up battles?" She asked.

"Oh right! That's today, isn't it!? Well I'm definitely going for the level-up battle. Right Jackie- nice wolfy!" She said, jumping when she saw Fang sniffing her.

"Yeah, I'll be there." I said.

"Looks like you'll be at fossil stadium, then. Watch out for trap doors and you'll be fine! See ya." Nevada said, quickly petting Fang and then leaving.

"Why am I standing around here?!" Rosie asked herself. "I have to get ready for my level-up battle! Jackie, hopefully the next time we see each other we'll both be at a higher level! Good luck!" Rosie said before rushing away. I smiled at her excitement. I also actually wanted to level-up. I started to walk to fossil stadium. Sadly, I forgot something. Soddenly fireworks flew up into the air and exploded in front of us. I'd never seen them before. They were amazing! I looked down at Fang and saw him react. The first one scared the living daylights out of him. The second one wasn't as bad and the third one he remained still during. He looked around for a second before lifting his head, fully recovered. Then the intercom went on.

"Your attention please. Level-Up battles will begin shortly." The announcer said. Fang barked, now extremely interested. I shrugged and led us to the fossil stadium. For once getting in wasn't a hassle. I guess having a wolf keeps people away. I walked up to the front desk, where Tiffany stared at me, well, mostly my wolf but I was also getting strange looks.

"Hello, Jackie. Is that a wolf?" She asked.

"Why yes it is. Can I sign up for the Level-Up battle?" I asked.

"Yes, sure. I, uhh, will need to see your license, please." She asked. I handed her the license and she put in in a slot before handing it back to me. "Alright, when you're ready for a cleaning test go right in." She said. I went over to the cleaning room and she watched me the whole way over. I went over to the floating robot and got ready for the test.

"DEET-DEET-DEET! Time for your cleaning test-VEEP." KL-34N said. "You need at least 60 points to pass-VOOP. Lets begin! VEEEEP!" It turned to the door and we went into the cleaning room. At least the robot didn't care about Fang being a wolf. I went over to the cleaning desk and told Fang to sit. I finished the fossil quickly, getting a 94 on it. We left the room and stood in the hallway. "Excellent! You passed your cleaning test-DEET-DEET-DEET! Go see Tiffany for your fossil battle when you're ready-VOOP! By the way, nice dog-VEEP." It said before floating away. I felt good that at least the robot liked my wolf... That didn't sound right to me. I walked over to Tiffany and I could see that she was trying hard not to seem concerned about Fang.

"Congratulations on passing the cleaning test." She said. "Next is your fossil battle test. For the fossil battle test you'll have one battle with a level 2 master. You will officially level up if you can defeat your opponent. When you're ready you may proceed with your battle by going to the door on your right. Good luck." She said. I went into, what was now the fossil battle door and at the end of the hallway stood non other than Nevada.

"Hey, Jackie. Thanks for your help at the Digadiganium. I might have been in trouble if you hadn't shown up like you did. I should warn you, though. Just because I owe you doesn't mean I can take it easy on you!" Nevada said, smirking. "I have to make sure that anyone who passes really is Level 3 calber, after all. Time to see what level you are, Jackie!" Nevada said, turning around and entering the stadium.

I followed her out and went to my podium. Fang was shocked at the crowd but kept cool. He even tried to stay calm when the podium rose up. The touch screen showed up in front of me and I took my place. I tied Fang up next to me and faced the touch screen. I placed my Dino medals into the slots, putting Spinax, V-Raptor, and Shanshan up to fight. Nevada had a U-Rapter, a Lexo, and a Nychus. I took down her team, just barely keeping all 3 of my Vivosaurs alive. Me and Fang left the large stadium, done for the day.

"Jackie!" Nevada said, coming out of the stadium and coming over to me.

"Great battle." I said.

"Yeah, you were amazing. Congratulations are in order. I've got to admit, you're a better fighter than I thought! Very impressive! You have a real knack for this, Jackie. I think you've got a Master Fighter's potential! I'll be keeping an eye on you. Good luck! You are now certified to be a Level 3 Fighter, Jackie!" Nevada took out a card on it with my face, my name, and Lv 3 on it. "You now need to carry this one around with you at all times but you can still keep your old ones. Come by the Digadigamid any time, I'll be there. See you around. Bye Fang!" She said before leaving. Fang barked, notifying me of an approach. I turned around to see a very nervus Rosie.

"N-nice wolfy." She said. I put Fang behind me so that we could have a normal conversation... as normal as one of our conversations get. "Well, great job, Jackie. I leveled up too! Wew... now were both Level 3 fighters. But we can't stop here-we'll both be Master fighters before long!"

"I can't stop because I need to walk Fang." I semi-joaked.

"Wow, you're serious about having him as a pet. I guess I should try to get use to it... Yeah. Well I wanted to say I was sorry."

"Eh? Why? Did you steal something from me or something?" I asked, confused about the sodden apology.

"No, its not that. Because of me you got sucked into that whole key thing. I'm really sorry."

"What are you talking about? If you didn't do that then I wouldn't have Fang, which is, maybe one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me." I admitted.

"Really?" She asked, really surprised.

"Yeah, my dad wouldn't ever let me get a pet. He barely let me had a full course meal. But now I've got one, a pet that is. And a smart one at that!" I praised Fang, making his bark.

"Oh, well I'm glad you're not upset! I'd hate to lose you as a friend. Well, see you around!" She said, before taking off. Friend?... Never been called that before. It's an island full of surprises. I felt a nudge on my leg and looked down.

"Alright, lets go run around at Knotwood forest for a while."


	5. Mine carts Are A Go

I awoke in my room, not on my bed, on the floor, Fang resting on me. He had grown in weight quite a bit since I got my level 3 fossil license, finally a healthy weight. I had been spending the last 2 days in Knotwood forest, digging up jeweled rocks, and finally putting a 'Target' down. Now it was time to go to my next digging sight.

I sat up, arousing Fang from his sleep. He yawned, stretched out, and shook. I did my normal routine, putting the covers back, feeding Fang, putting my stuff together, and finally going out for the day. I noticed an increase in my strength since I got my pickax and started running with Fang everyday. I headed to the lobby, getting out and leaving the building. I started to notice the stares were dying down. I guess everyone got use to it. The wolf in town, that is. I was told a few days ago that their was a fossil fighter's seminar over in Rivet Ravine, where I was going today. I walked over to the docks to Beth and Sue.

"Could I please go to Rivet Ravine today?" I asked. I gave Beth my license and she smiled.

"Finally heading over there then? Well alright." Beth said, putting my license in the slot and pressing the button. "All set."

"Good morning, Fang 3" Sue said, petting Fang making him squeal happy. She was probably the only person on the island, except Nevada, who would touch Fang and let me tell you, she loved him! The boat came around and we hopped on to it. The boat sped around to a different part of the island and Fang took an immediate notice to it. He whined and I put my hand on his head, as if to say 'it's alright, I know'. We stopped at the dock and hopped off the boat, Fang excitedly smelled around at the new environment.

"Listen up you, collect eight fossil rocks and then report back to me. Go!" Said a man in front of a small group of people. Could that be the seminar I heard of? I walked over to the guy, Fang curious of the strange shouting man.

"Hello there, nice dog-oh wolf, even cooler. Are you here to take my seminar?" The man asked, petting Fang.

"Well, I guess I might as well try it out." I said.

"Well I'm Sam Inaro. I teach young fossil fighters the skills they need in their careers. I will guarantee an improvement in your fossil finding skills. Now, since you said yes, I want you to dig up 8 fossils and bring them to me. GO!" He said. I walked away and started digging for fossils. I dug up eight and brought them back. He then proceeded to strike me with lightning. What's up with humans and striking others with lightning?! (I'm skipping some talking because chapters are too long). Fed up and bored I started to head back. Sodenly Fang barked.

"Arf arf arf arruff!" He barked.

"What is it boy?" I asked. I let go of the leash and Fang ran up a slope and started digging. "What's up boy?" He continued digging until he just stopped. I peered into the hole he dug when he got out of it. I reached in and grabbed something. No way! A blue fossil rock! I sprang up and rushed over to the boat, Fang following loyalty.

We got on and rushed out once we got back. I immediately cleaned it. It was something called an Alectro skull. When it was revived my mouth dropped wide open. It...it... it was a blue Igno! I immediately put it on my team. I had done it! I got an Igno... well it wasn't Igno, but it looked exactly like one! I cleaned the rest of the fossils as well. I also got more of Alectro's parts. Before I went back to Riven Raven I bought a new bag one could hold 16 fossil rocks in and gave my old one to Fang. Its a cheap way of getting more fossils but Fang didn't seem to mind.

I went back to Rivet Ravine and ventured deeper into it this time. I also learned that different colors weren't too special on the outer layer. All of them except jeweled rocks have them now, not that that makes any sense, just like most things on this island.

I finally reached what I thought was the end of the dig sight when I ran across a cave. Fang and I went into the cave only to find out it was a mine shaft. I walked into it were I was suddenly picked up by the back of my shirt into the air. I struggled in a large man's grip and Fang began to growl at the man.

"You there! Are you the one who destroyed the mine cars!?" The man shouted. "I should call the police!" I started to struggle more.

"You've got it all wrong! I didn't even know this was a mine shaft a few minutes ago! This is the first time I've been in here, honestly sir, I didn't do it!" I said. He lowered me onto the ground and took a step away from me.

"Sorry about that boy, I've just been having a problem mattic day. First I lost my tools, than my mine car was broken, and then I couldn't find my other helmet! Hey, you know they're are some really rare and valuable fossils in there! If you can find my tools, so I can fix my mine cars, you can go over and dig some up! What do yeah say? Help an old man out?" He asked. A private dig sight? A perfect place to plant a 'Target'!

"Ok, sir. I'll find your tools. But how can I find them?" I asked.

"Hmmm... I've got an idea! All right boy, hand my your sonar and I'll put a metal detector in it!" I handed him the sonar and he twiddled it for a minute before giving it back to me. "There, a good old Mc. Junker job is ready to be started. By the way, I'm Mc. Junker."

"Jackie." I said, receiving my sonar. "And thats Fang." I said, making Fang bark. Fang barked again, nudging my sonar, as if to say 'lets get a move on'. "Alright. Don't worry, Mc. Junker. We'll get your tools back to you." I said, turning and walking off.

"Who said I was worried?!" Mc. Junker laughed as I walked away. I went down the left tunnel along the wall with three different ways to go. I found nothing but fossil rocks. I shoved them into Fang's and my bags, moving out of the tunnel. I shook my head at Mc. Junker as I entered the middle tunnel.

In the middle tunnel I found something. Sadly, when I dug what I had found up it was just a plain old iron ore rock. Finally, making my way through the right tunnel I stumbled upon something. A BB Bandit was standing in the middle of the room, burying some rusty looking tools. I let Fang off the leash and told him to guard the way out. He complied easily. I walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"H-hey! Don't scare me like that, I'm busy trying to hide these tools!" He said. I raised my eyebrow and he glared at me. "What?!"

"You do just realize that you basicly, in a way, admitted that you're doing something wrong, right?" I asked him.

"So what!? What are you gonna do about it?" He asked.

"Well.." I said, side stepping out of Fang's way. When the BB Bandet looked at Fang as he growled. "Alright, heres how this goes. I'll give you three options, great deal, right. I'm sure there's at least one you'll like. One, you can hand over the tools nicely." I said. He glared at me, not wanting to give up so easily. "I guessed you wouldn't like that option. Two, you can get mauled by a wolf." I said, gesturing to Fang, making Fang growl again. "I don't think you like that either. Now, heres the good one. Three, you and I fossil battle for the tools." I said, making him eye me. "There we go, that sound good to you, doesn't it? Of course, if I win, I get the tools. But, if I win and you don't hand them, we go back to option two." I said, causing Fang to growl. The BB Bandit took out his battle machine and I copied his motion, quickly pulling out my Dino metals.

I quickly realized that I only had 2 with me. What, were were the others!? Oh no, don't tell my they fell out somewhere!? I looked deep down into my bag. Dammit, there was a hole in it! I looked at my medals. I only had two of them, Alectro and a newer one called Megalo, a neutral type. I put them into the slots and started to battle the BB Bandit's Stygi and Patchy. I won somehow, but if I didn't have Megalo I would have lost. He was surprisingly strong, I may just keep Megalo on my team. He did just save my butt.

"Alright, I won, fair and square. Hand them over." I said.

"GRRR, fine, take them!" He said, throwing them at me. I easily caught them and called Fang over. Once the doorway was unblocked he bolted. Not that I minded, I didn't care what he did, as long as my mission was completed. The tools were rusted over but I didn't care. I brought them back to Mc. Junker.

"Exolent, you found my tools!" Mc. Junker said. "These are definitely them! Wait, these are all rusted over, could you maybe clean them?" He asked me.

"Sure." I said, not in the mood to disagree. I took out my cleaning tools, that I stopped leaving in the cleaning room after the annoying tunnels incident. I cleaned them with out a dent.

"Ah, look at them now, the shine." The large man said, cooing over the pair of metal tools. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing whether I should snap him out of it. "You did good work today, junior. Oh, I nearly forgot, could you head back to town and pick me up an Electromagnet for me? There should be on in the junk deposit. Just talk to my apprentice, he'll give it to you."

"Sure, I'm gonna need to clean my fossils anyways." I said, turning away.

"Hey, kid, hold up a second! You dropped this earlier!" Mc. Junker said, throwing my V-Raptor Dino medal at me. I caught it and placed it in my bag. One down, 2 more to go. I walked all the way out of the digging sight and to the docks were I found the boat and realized that Fang was still off leash. I clicked the leash back on and we both jumped onto the boat.

The boat took off, bringing us back to the town after about 10 minutes. Sadly with Fang I don't think the teleporter works and I didn't want to try. We got off the boat and walked over the the guild aria. After asking for directions and cutting across the grass I reached the junk yard. I entered the junk deposit and looked around, spotting a girl- waaaait a minute... Oh, its Holt. He turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, hey Jackie! Long time no see." He greeted me. "A wolf? Cool! I heard you got one! So, incase your wondering, Mc. Junker put me to work as his apprentice. There I was, thinking that I'd learn about Fossil battles but all I've done is learn about tools and stuff. So, whatcha doin here?"

"Mc. Junker sent me here to pick up something called an Electrominte or something. Do you got one? He said to talk to you." I explained.

"Really? There's only one thing you can show me to prove that you're saying the truth. A V-Raptor!"

"Hu?" I asked. What good would a V-Raptor do in this situation?

"Mc. Junker says that V-Raptors hate liars, so you should only trust people who keep them!" I held my V-Raptor Dino Medal up to Holt and he smiled. "Great! Here's your Electrominte you wanted! But first... A fossil battle is needed! I don't get enough battle practise working here. I'll give you the Electrominte if you can beat me in a Fossil battle!"

"You know what, fine, lets battle." We pulled out our Battle machines and started to duke it out. He had a Tricera and a Elasmoth. I won easy, Tricera being the only threat to me.

"Darn! I really thought I had a chance against you! Well, here it is. Say hi to Mc. Junker for me! Lets battle again soon, alright?! See you!" Holt said, getting back to work. I left the building, going to the shop to get my bag repaired. The hole was fixed so I went to the fossil center, to clean my fossils. I cleaned my fossils and found my Dino Medals where I usually keep my tools. I must of accidentally swhiched them... I finished up at the fossil center and headed once again to Rivet Rivet. I climbed up to the mine shaft, finally getting back to Mc. Junker. Man these humans make you walks!

"Ah, Jackie, your back! I assume that Holt did as he was supposed to do?" Mc. Junker said.

"He said *Gasp* hi." I said, holding out the Electrominte to him.

"You alright boy? You don't look so good..."

"I just went down the mountain, to the town, battled Holt, repaired my bag, went to the fossil center, cleaned about 21 fossils, retrieved my other dino Medals, came back to the dig site,... *Gasp* and finally climbed the mountain to reach you. I'm simply tired." I explained threw ragged breaths.

"Sounds rough. Wait, you had to fight a fossil battle with him? Well, I should add the Electrominte into the minecart so that you can go diggin around in there." He said.

"Yeah, lifting my pickax and digging up fossils. That'll be the end of me." I muttered.

"Alright, there you go, have some fun in there!" Mc. Junker said, offering me the minecart. I complied, me and Fang getting in and it zoomed off. We got out of the minecart and Fang started to growl.

"Now where do you suppose the idol is? I've run out of places to look!" I heard someone say. I walked over to the voices and watched the three BB Bandits I saw before, rushing around, whacking into each other. "Hey, Rex, dig here!" Snivels said.

"When our you two idiots gonna stop clowning around?!" Vivian showed. "Hey! Who's there?" The three of them spotted me. I stepped forward into their line of view and they glared at me. "Snivels, explain to me what is going on here. I thought I told you to make it so that no one can come down here!"

"I did! I took the mine car out of commission and even went as far as to steal his tools so that he couldn't fix it. I gave them to Rex to beary." Snivels said.

"Maybe you should of brought them here so that no one could DIG THEM UP." I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. Snivels held still.

"Maybe we should just fire you and hire him! He knows how to do thing better than either of you! He even has a dog to replace Rex." Vivian shouted at them. "Whatever, lets focus on him now. You two, get him!" Vivian commanded, making them pull out Battle devices. Rex came at me first. I used Alectro, Spinax, and Megalo. He used a Zino and a Nodo. I won after minor problems.

"I'm up next!" Snivels said, activating the battle machine. I used the same Vivasur and he used a Charchar and a Cerato. It was even easier.

"Urgh, remember who you're dealing with, boy!" Vivian said.

"We'll meet again, punk! And when we do? I'll squish you like a bug." Snivels growled.

"I'm shaking in my hiking boots." I said blandly, lifting my foot up and shaking it in the air. The three of them rushed past me, narrowly avoiding Fang's bite. I let them go. I had no real quarrel with them, I couldn't care less about them, really. I was only slightly bugged by them.

I walked over to the corner of the digging area and bent down, taking out a 'Target' and placing it on the ground. It opened it's legs up and I typed the password into it. It lit up and burrowed into the ground. Done.

I turned around and looked at Fang. He was strangely calm at my actions. What was with him? I went to work, digging up fossils and placing them into my bags. I still had no idea why I was digging them up in the first place. I guess the idea of fossil fighting really was growing on me. I decided to dig up one more fossil before I left.

I struck the ground with my pickax and pulled something out of the ground. Hu? Wait... It was another strange idol! Weird. It was big and fat, unlike the other one which was thin and easier to carry. I shrugged and placed it into my bag. After finding out it would not fit I simply decided to carry it. I still liked them.

I walked back to the mine car but slipped into a hole. Fang barked and jumped down after me. I landed back in the tunnel entrance. Fang and the idol came tumbling down after me, landing on my stomach. Mc. Junker came over and started to laugh a little.

"I guess I should've warned you about the way out. By the way, some people in purple when running out of here, scared of something. I'm guessing there the hooligans who broke my minecart!"

"Yes sir. But don't worry, I sent them packing." I said, brushing myself off. Mc. Junker extended his hand to me, offering to help me up but I ignored him, getting up on my own.

"Well you surprised me, junior. Your twice the fighter and half the size of most fighters around here. Well, I'll be heading off to the junk deposit again, and you should get ready for level up battles, their starting tomorrow." Mc. Junker said, turning and leaving the mines.

I sighed. Now I had to walk all the way back down the mountain, with a heavy idol. I started my way down, getting weird looks at the idol. Well, I guess that would be understandable, it was weird. I walked all the way down the mountain, getting on the waiting boat, and heading back to town. When the boat stopped I got off and onto the port, Fang following.

"What a strange statue." Sue said.

"Yes, where did you get it?" Beth asked.

"I just dug it up." I admitted. I walked back to the hotel, not really in the mood to talk, and went to my room. It only just occurred to me that Fang's leash had been off almost all day. Oh well. I went to give Fang food and water like usual. After my routine was finished I jumped onto the bed. Fang laid at the edge of my bed, making sure to stay out off the fall zone, where I usually land during the night. I drifted off, forgetting to get under the covers again, into a deep sleep, Megalo, V-raptor, Spinax, and Alectro by my side.

I awoke one morning, once again, on the floor. It was surprisingly normal to me now. Then again, this would be the seventeenth day I was here. They had to delay the level-up battles for about six days because of some technical issues.

I stretched out and petted Fang, who had moved to my stomach. I picked up my dino Medals, placing them in my bag and going to get food and water for Fang. I placed the food and water dishes on the ground, letting Fang get some nutrition but he seemed to ignore them. He scratched at his collar and whined.

"What's wrong, boy?" I asked. I took a close look at his collar. It was too tight. It only just occured to me how fast he was growing. I loosened the collar and he went off to eat. I got ready for the day, packing my things, ready to go when Fang was. I even found out how to fit the idol into my bag. I kinda wanted to keep it with me for some reason. But, of course, it was a little late for that.

When Fang finished his breakfast I hooked the leash onto his collar and led us down to the lobby. Fang sniffed around down stairs before finally letting us leave. When we exited the hotel fireworks went off. I looked at Fang. He wasn't reacting any more. The announcer announced the level-up battles so we went to the fighting place, whatever it was called. I yawned as I entered, walking up to Tiffany.

"We our currently accepting entries for the Level-up battles. Would you like to begin?" Tiffany asked tiredly. I ignored her tiredness, to caring enough to say anything about it.

"Yes." I said.

"May I please see your license?" She asked with a yawn. Wow, she was exhausted. I handed her my Level 3 license. She took it, put it into the slot, and handed it back to me. "Alright, first the *Yawn* cleaning test. Go to the cleaning room to begin." She said blandly. Wow. I actually felt a little bad for her. A little. I went to the cleaning room and was greeted by KL-33N.

"Hello, Jackie-VEEP! Aren't you surprised to see me today-VOOP?" KL-33N asked. "Me and KL-34N switched for the day, to learn more about cleaning-VEEP! It's time for the cleaning test-VEEP. You need at least 65 points to pass-VOOP. Lets begin!" KL-33N said, leading me into the cleaning room. Fang layed down next to the cleaning table. Everyone was tired today. I started to clean, eager to finnish. I get a nice score, 97, a passing score. We left the cleaning room and stood outside in the hallway. "Excellent! You passed your cleaning test- DEETDEETDEET! Go see Tiffany at the reception desk to go to your fossil battle-VOOP! See you later!" KL-33N said, leaving. I walked over to the reception desk.

"We are currently accepting entries for the Level-up battles. Would you like to begin? Oh, Jackie. Sorry, I'm pretty tired today. Are you ready for your level-up battle?" Tiffany asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Two battles today." She said. Then she simply pointed at the cleaning/stadium entrance. I walked over to the door, unpleased at Tiffany's attitude. She really was acting different, it was weird. I walked into the hallway and met up with a gi- Holt. Man he looked like a girl!

"You and me battling it out at Fossil stadium?! This is great!" He said.

"Yeah." I said back. He yawned for a second but got back to the conversation.

"Well you beat me last time, but I've been practising, so don't expect me to drop so easily this go-round. I've got a strategy this time, so lets go!" He said, going into the stadium. Strategy? I never actually had one before.

I went into the stadium and got up on the podium. It rose into the ground and the touch screen appears. I went threw the same process, placing Alectro, V-Raptor, and Megalo into their proper slots. Holt used his Tricera, Coatlus, and Pachy. I finished off his team quickly, barely losing a Vivosaur. The podiums went down and we exited the stadium.

"Well, Shoot! I lost again... I'm sure we'll battle again some day. I'll keep practising!" Holt said. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a very upset Dr. Diggins.

"Hi." I said.

"Hello, Jackie. Can you please keep your pet with you at all times? I found him snooping around in my office." Dr. Diggins said, handing my Fang's leash.

"Oh, I actually didn't notice he was gone. Sorry, sir." I said.

"It's alright, he didn't do any damage. But it did look like he was actually ready my papers. Weird. Well, see ya." Dr. Diggins said, leaving me and Fang and going back to his office and to work.

"What's with you?" I said to Fang. I turned around and Holt was gone. Oh well. I went to Tiffany who was slowly falling asleep on the counter. "Tiffany?" I said.

"HU! What?! Oh, Jackie. Are you ready for your next battle? *Yawn* You can go into the stadium for the final round." She said, slowly falling asleep again. I went into the hallway to the stadium and there, waiting for me, was Mc. Junker.

"You did it, junior! But I can't say I'm surprised." He said. "After all, anyone with your skills at fighting was going to make it here. Are you suprised? I suppose I didn't mention that I'm the Level 3 master, did I?"

"I can't say I'm really too surprised. This usually happens. I meet some one, help them out, and then battle them here. It's not too surprising any more." I admitted.

"Hmm, I see. Well, watch out, my teams a force to be reckoned with! Alright, lets battle!" Mc. Junker said, going into the stadium. I went to the podium and it raised up. I put my Vivosaurs into the slots and got ready. I looked down, glad to see that Fang hadn't disappeared again. Why was he in Dr. Diggin's papers?

Mc. Junker had his Stygi, Kentro, and Cerato with him. I found it easy to defeat him, not losing a single Vivosaur. We left the stadium and I met Mc. Junker in front of a sleeping Tiffany.

"Congratulations, junior! I'm impressed, beating me is not a walk in the park. Well done! My apprentice Holt has been improving steadily, but you're in a league all by yourself. Keep digging and reviving and soon you'll be in a major league of your own! Alright, you are officially certified as a Level 4 Fighter." Mc. Junker said, handing me a card with my face, name, and Lv4 on it, not to mention the stamp. "Alright, see you." Mc. Junker said, walking out the door.

"Congratulation, Jackie." Said a soft voice. I turned around to see Rosie standing behind me. "I'm getting ready for my level up battle. Whew... I'm nervous... Nice Fang." Rosie said, eyeing Fang.

"You know, he's not that bad. The only thing he's done wrong was snoop through Dr. Diggin's papers." I said.

"When did he do that?"

"A few minutes ago." I admitted.

"Well... okay then. But really, congratulations. You're always one step ahead of me, it seems. Better watch out, though. I'm hot on your heels! Hey, why is your bag all bulky?" Rosie asked.

"Oh, I brought something today." I said, removing the idol from my bag.

"Another one? What in the world our these things? And why are they so tacky?"

"I like them." I said, putting it away.

"Well, I'm getting ready for my battle, see you! Um, Tiffany?" Rosie said, going over to Tiffany and waking her up.

"Hu? What? Welcome to level... *Snore*" She said, falling back asleep.

"Alright Fang, lets take you for a walk, after I put the idol away, it's too heavy." I said. Fang barked and I started towards the hotel.

day 17

7 pages


	6. Woolbeard the Pirate

I awoke in my room two days later (Once again, he didn't sleep for two days) on the floor. Suprise, suprise. Fang had grown more and fast and was eating a lot more now. He was getting a little harder to manage. I cleaned up my stuff, fed and hydrated Fang. We started to get the routine down, being quicker at getting out in the mornings. I was finally heading off to the newest dig sight I was allowed to go to, Bottomsup Bay. Me and Fang left the hotel and headed down to the dock. Sue and Beth were waiting there for fossil fighters to travel, like always.

"Good morning Beth, Sue." I said, giving them a small smile.

"Good morning, Jackie." They said in unison.

"Where would you like to go?" Beth asked.

"Bottomsup Bay please." I said, handing her my license. She put it into a slot and pressed a button.

"Alright, everythings ready. Oh, Jackie... Er... Well..." Beth said.

"Yes?" I said.

"You can't bring Fang there, sorry." Sue said.

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

"Well, Bottomsup Bay is... under water. Fang won't feel so good down there." Beth said. "You'll need this, too." Beth handed my a scuba helmet. It was blue and looked weird, like an anglerfish.

"Also, look out of Dencher sharks." Sue warned me. "Here, I can watch Fang for you while you're gone. Or I could bring him back to the hotel for you." Sue said.

"Could you bring him back to the hotel? I'm the last door on the right." I instructed, handing Sue the leash. She walked down the road with Fang. He was very calm. The boat came by and I got on. I sailed to a dock in the middle of the water.

I watched a fossil fighter jump into the water from there. I got off the boat, put on the mask, and dived down. When I landed on the ground I had a hard time moving around. I dug up one fossil before hearing a voice call out at me.

"Aaaargh! Heeeelp!" Some one called. I looked forward and saw Rosie, wearing a pink mask, surrounded by weird looking sharks. They were nothing like I read about. She spotted me and started to fail around. "I was just digging and I looked up and was surrounded by sharks! Please, HELP!" She called.

I started to swim towards her when a shark came out of nowhere. I took my pickax out and took a swing at it. It was scared off so I kept going. I soon found my way to Rosie, she shook in fear. When she saw me she jumped to me and hugged me tightly.

"T-thanks, Jackie. I thought I was a goner! There teeth may be fake but they still hurt!" She said. They were fake? How does a shark get fake teeth?!

"Yeah, you're lucky I came along. You could've gotten really hurt. Be more careful for now on." I said. Wait... what did I just say? I've never worried for the safety of others before, not even Fang all that often. Heck, I didn't even realise when he wandered off.

"Okay. I guess you're right. Hey, theres a sunken pirate ship nearby! We should go find it!" Rosie said.

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do." I said. I admit, I was kind of fond of the idea of a ship underwater. "So, are you gonna lead the way?" I asked, hiding my hands behind my back.

"N-no! There could be more sharks. But you did scare most of them off. By the way, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? Swinging your pickax at them! You could of been torn to shreds!"

"I wasn't scared." I said. She looked at me, frozen. Was it really that hard to believe that I was really brave during fights? "So, where is this ship?" I asked.

"I-I don't know... I think theres a hole in the ground somewhere." Rosie said.

"Alright, lets go." I said. We swam around for a little, Rosie trying to be slow to be offensive to me. I was flailing my arms and legs around to try to move around, which wasn't going too well in normal standards.

"Jackie... Do you... Know how to swim?" Rosie asked caushenently.

"So what?! I don't need to learn, I'm doing perfectly well right now. Stupid water..." I said, mumbling the last part to myself.

"Here, let me help you." She said. She grabbed my arms and started to move them in a circular like motion. "Like this, then kick you feet." She instructed. I started to kick my feet wildly but she stopped me. "You have to be more calm than that, or you'll get nowhere."

"This is stupid." I said, pulling away from Rosie and started to flail away. She sighed and continued to follow me. Stupid water! I hated it! Why would someone even think of digging down here, let alone create an entire digging sight here?

We continued looking for the pirate ship when I was suddenly sucked into a hole on the ground. I popped out on the other side and Rosie came after me. I attempted to rub my head, forgetting about the helmet when Rosie gasped.

"Look! There it is!" She said, pointing to the north. I looked up and saw a large pirate ship. It was large and was on a perch, meaning it's bottom was seeable. In the bottom there was a large hole that we could go threw. "Come on, lets go!" Rosie insisted as she pulled me up and swam me over to it. When we entered it. Somehow it was filled with air.

"It's full of air..." I breathed, taking off my mask.

"Yeah and it's fresh." Rosie said, struggling to get her's off. "Jackie-Rrr- a little help, please?" I sighed and turned around to help her remove her mask. We tugged and tugged until it finally popped off. "Hey, lets explore, It'll be fun! Come on!" Rosie said, pulling me along again. This girl would be the end of me. She dragged me up and down the stairs and in and out of rooms. I was beginning to realize that she had no idea where the hell we were. We found a weird door with a cloud on it and it had a ribbon around it. We shrugged and opened the heavy doors. We stepped inside and heard some voices.

"WooOOOOooooOOOOoooo woooOOOOOoooooo WWWOOOOOooooo!" Something said. I had to stop for a second to let that sink in and walked to the desk in the room. Suddenly a pirate with a beard that stuck out on every side appeared. Rosie jumped but I just gave it a board look. "ARR! Ye face the legendary pirate, Captain Woolbeard! I've crossed all seven seas and... and... I'm legendary!" I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but sigh. Meanwhile Rosie was looking at the pirat as if she was just declared princess of the Earth moon.

"It's the ghost of Woolbeard! Neat!" Rosie said. I simply grunted, causing Rosie to cross her arms and glared at me. I simply peared at her.

"Hold, ye two life-lubbers! I've got orders for ye!"

"Orders? Who are you to be given orders around? Some guy with a hat?" Rosie complained.

"He's a captain and were on his ship." I said, strangely siding with the caption.

"Oh be quiet!" Rosie shouted at me, causing me to flinch.

"Ye boy's right! Ye are to find me beard ribbon! WooOOOoo woooOOOO!" The captain said. I lifted my eyebrow at him.

"Are you gonna always make thought ghost noises?" I asked him.

"Well, no, not always."

"Good, their getting tiresome."

"Ye are some interesting characters, hu? Well, that beard ribbon is the only thing I hold dear to me heart... the is the most fashionable accessory on the planet." I scrunched my nose up. I'd rather go jewelry shopping with Rosie than where one of those. "Without it my spirit will never rest in peace... and I'll risk the wrath of the first-fashion critics everywhere."

"Nice story but do you really think we have time to go running around to find your pretty ribbon?" Rosie asked the captain.

"If ye find the ribbon, I'll give ye the greatest treasure under the sea."

"That'll get her attention." I muttered.

"Wait, what?! Treasure! We're gonna be rewarded?! We'll take the job! We'll get you the ribbon before you can say 'Apparition' sir! Right, are you with me, Jackie?!"

"Well-" I began before Rosie cut me off.

"Alright captain, we're taking the job! Just wait right here!"

"I've searched every corner of every sea and it's nowhere to be found." Captain Woolbeard informed.

"Than we can check them all again!" Rosie said, fist high in the air.

"Why don't we try the dry land first?! Were he hasn't checked." I said. Wait, was I encouraging this wild goose chase?

"Right, land first!"

"Please help me before my beard becomes... unruly." The captain pleaded.

"No offense sir but it's way past that point." I pointed out.

"Exactly!" He said before disappearing. Suddenly there was a loud noise so we turned around. The door was closed. We ran over to it and tried to reopen it, but it was locked.

"It's locked." Rosie cried.

"No du!" I shouted as I pushed and pushed on the door. It was offishal, I was trapped. "Well, I'm definitely trapped."

"What do you mean 'you're trapped'!? What about me?! Do I not count as a thing or something? You know what!? I don't like your attitude! Your alway so... so... isolated from everybody! You even try to be alone most of the time. Ever hear of a 'hey Rosie, wanna go digging with me?' or something?! What do you have to say about that?!" Rosie yelled, causing me to flinch.

"Er-I-"

"See what I mean!? You can't even think of an excuse!" I clenched my fists and something in me just snapped.

"So you want me to change my attitude completely so that you can get what you want?! Is that it?! Let me tell you something, I don't know how your parents acted around you but I'm not about to spoil you like they did!" I yelled, crossing my arms and walking over to the captain's desk, sitting on his chair and glaring at the floor with red eyes. I couldn't believed I had just snapped like that. I hadn't gotten to that point in years. I looked over to Rosie who's eyes were wide open in shock. Serves her right. "One of these days she's gonna be kidnaped and it'll be up to me to drag her butt home." I muttered.

Suddenly there was a loud booming noise and a puff of smoke came from the door. We watched in shock as a nice looking lady, draped in white with nice yellow hair appeared in the entryway. She also had red marks on her cheeks and blue eyes. Rosie rushed to the desk and she leaned against it out of plain up fear, still a little shocked from me. The woman walked all the way in and started to look around from a single spot.

"This room... The captain's quarters?" She asked herself.

"Hey, the doors open!" Rosie pointed out. I held my tongue of a sarcastic remark. "Did you open the door, miss?" Again, I held back a remark. "Thank you! We thought we were gonna become sunken treasure ourselves." I couldn't hold it back anymore.

"I didn't think anything. It was you who was about to start crying but blew my ear drums out instead." I sneared. Rosie turned and glared at me. Holding back an urge to cower under her menacing gaze, I closed my eyes and shrugged.

"Yes, I did open the door, but don't misunderstand. I'm not here to help or to harm you. I simply need to survey the room." The lady said. She then walked over to the desk where I was sitting and started to move documents around. She first looked at the the globe thing. She held a surprised look on her face at it and moved onto a larger document right in front of me. She held a questioning gaze at it and moved onto a map behind me. She thought for a while, just looking at it before she turned her head towards me. We held each other's gaze for about a minute before I broke away. Something was off about her. She almost didn't seem... human. She then went to the door, whispering a 'farewell' to me as she crossed to the other side of the desk. I was slightly surprised that she said farewell to me, she seemed distant from the world, like me. But for me, it's understandable.

"Who was that? And where is she going? Oh forget her! I want to know who those two were who locked us in here and why!" Rosie showed. I got out of my seat and headed to the door.

"You comin?" I said. Rosie bolted after me but didn't shut up just yet.

"Ah, it can wait. We've got ourselves a ribbon to find." Sodenly Rosie grabbed my arm and pulled me to one of those machines that teleport you around and pressed the teleport button. We ended up back on the docks. "Let's talk to grandpa, he might know where it is!" Rosie said, grabbing my arm.

"Wait-but-Fang!" I pointed out.

"Oh you're not gonna die because your dog's not here."

"Yeah but he likes to hear about this kind of stuff." Rosie ignored me and pulled me all the way to the richman building. She yanked me inside and up the elevator into her grandfather's office. She yanked me to Mr. Richman's desk and finally let go of me.

"Grandpa, have you ever hear of the beard ribbon belonging to Woolbeard the pirat? I really want to find it." She said as she walked to the other side of the desk and suddenly shreeked. She rushed back over to me, leaving her grandfather in a daze. Her grandfather looked up, shocked by her behavior.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"That dam wolf!" She cried.

"Fang?" I questioned. Suddenly I hear a bark and Fang came running out from under the desk. What was he doing here?

"Oh, yes. I found that wolf in here when I came in this morning. It had a leash on so I assumed that it had an owner. Would you be him, Jackie?" Mr. Richman asked.

"Yeah, he's my dog." I declared.

"He's a wolf!" Rosie corrected, running back to her grandfather.

"Hey, Rosie, wanna hold him?" I asked sarcastically. She stuck out her tongue at me and her grandfather chuckled.

"So why do you want to know about the beard ribbon, because it sounds familiar. Oh, wait, I remember that my people found it in an old chest that washed up on shore a while back."

"Really, so you have it!"

"Not anymore, no. An acquaintance of mine really wanted it, so I gave it to him."

"An acquaintance? Who?"

"His name in Nick Nack. He's a little off putting but he is a good person. He lives in the hotel."

"Great, we can drop the 'dog' off while we're there. Thanks grandpa!" Rosie turned and left cautiously, leaving the room before me. I sighed. What was her problem with Fang? I picked up Fang's leash and started to head for the door until a voice called out.

"Jackie, could you wait a minute?" Mr. Richman asked. I turned towards him, giving him my full attention. "Could you watch out for my granddaughter. She rushes into thing without even thinking and you seem like a sensible young man. Would you."

"Yes sir." I said with a bow. I went after Rosie, Fang at my side. We left the building at different times because of Rosie's refusal to get close to Fang. We walked in silence on our way to the hotel, Rosie in the front. Rosie slid into the hotel and I followed. Rosie was talking to the hotel manager by the time we got in. Sodenly Fang pulled on the leash. He walked forward a little, looking at the other elevator in the room. I followed him into the elevator and went up, ditching Rosie. Fang led me into the first door in the hallway so I gave the door a sharp knock.

"Come in." A man on the other side of the door said. I opened the door just as the elevator opened up, letting out an angry Rosie. I looked at the man in the room. He was... indescribable in ways. He wore a red shirt with some metal thing draped over his shoulders. He had a red mask on and had feathers coming out of his back like a head peace. Rosie followed me into the room, having the same reaction as me. Suddenly the man spun around and laughed a little.

"Good afternooooooooon! Mademoiselle Rosie. Monsieur Jackie." He said in some kind of axent. "This is me. I am Nick Nack. I heard from Monsieur Richmond about your visit. AND your desires. It is Woolbeard's beard ribbon you want, ehhh? That would tickle your fancy, ehhhhhhhh?" He asked us.

"Uh... yes." Rosie said, slightly taken back by him. Not that I was any less shocked than she was. I knew humans were weird but... not THIS weird.

"I will be more than happy to grant your request, considering you relation to? Monsieur Richmond..."

"Really!? Thats great!" Rosie said happily.

"Whoa now. Spool your nets, girl." Fang whined, leaning his head on the ground and covering his face with his paw. I felt his pain. "There's a price to be payed! Woolbeard's ribbon is a one-of-a-kind treasure after all."

"So what do we have to do?" Rosie questioned excitedly.

"Hmm... Nick Nack is thinking...Thinking...THINKING...! Of all the things their are, there are three things I wish for... Bring those three things to me. Search, find, and bring those three things to me and I'll give you the beard ribbon." Nick Nack said.

"Three things?!" Rosie exclaimed.

"Hey, I rustled my puno trying to get that beard ribbon!" Nick Nack defended.

"I thought Rosie's grandfather gave it to you?" I said blandly. He looked at both of us quickly before smiling big.

"So we've all agreed to my plan, the first thing I need is a mottled bug shell." Nick Nack said, disregarding us completely.

"You want a molted bug shell? The only bugs I can think of in the island are fossil bugs." Rosie pointed out. Fossil bugs? Is there anything alive on this island except for humans, and Fang of course.

"Too correct! So well educated you are, Mademoiselle Rosie." Nick Nack prasad. "When it comes to fossil bugs, the chieftain seems to know a lot. You should ask him." Fang barked at the mentioning of the chieftain, remembering him quite well. "When you find it, would you kindly... bring... it... to...me. Then I'll give you your next project. Good luck and thank you for your service!" He said, waving his arms in the air wildly. We sighed and left the room. Fang sniffed around the hallway, making Rosie nervus again.

"He's coming whether you want it or not." I said flatly. She pouted but kept her mouth shut. She had been a little more quiet since the ship accident and I'd never been so glad to be locked in a room before. We headed down the hallway and into the lobby. Rosie waved good bye to the hotel manager before we left, which really bugged me. She didn't need to go out of her way to be nice, so why do it? It's not like it'll benefit her. Humans were weird. We walked out of the hotel and down the street to the dock. Beth greeted us with a smile. "KnotWood forest please." I said, handing her my card. She took it and put it into the little machine. She then handed it back to me. The boat arrived quickly as it should on a tuesday afternoon. We hopped aboard and went down to the forest. We got off, Rosie thanking the boat driver and we walked down to the Digadig. We stood in the entrance for a few minutes before Fang growled. I looked to the bushes and sure enough something popped out. It was a dog- Rex!

"Bark bark!" He barked. Then Rex and Fang had a growling contest.

"Wait, I remember that barking! Remember? When we were locked up in that ship!? Who are you, are you trying to stop us from getting in!?" Rosie concluded.

"I would usually say you're crazy for blaming a dog for that, but you're right, he did lock us in and probably is guarding the entrance, with that big nosy guy." I said, angry. Why were they always in my way?! Rex pulled out a battle device and pressed the button. I pulled out mine and we started to battle. It was Megath, Zino, and Nodo V.s my Alectro, v-raptor, and Megalo. I won easily, like always

"Bowwwwwwwwww." Rex said before running off. I shrugged and walked into the camp, Rosie close behind. In Front of the hut in the middle, stood the Digadig Chieftain. We walked over to him, Fang wagging his tail.

"Hi, Mr Chieftain! How are you diga-doing?" Rosie asked. I looked at her, slightly shocked. Her hand flew to her mouth. "What is it about this place that makes me say that...d-d-d... That d-d-d-d-d-diga dang word?!" The Chieftain snickered a little, holding back a laugh.

"I have no... idea. What brings you here, digadig?" He asked.

"We're trying to find a molted bug shell... Diga-do you know where we can find one?" Rosie asked.

"I do, digadig. Deep underground lives the fossil bug. They... push fossils with their back legs and... roll them."

"So do we start digging? Wait, fossil bugs are alive?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Rosie asked.

"Well they are called FOSSIL bugs. I thought they where fossils!" I growled.

"There are many fossil bugs around, but their molted shells... are difficult to come by, digadig." The chieftain explained. "Because we use these shells as... toboggans in the winter months, we learned to make the bugs molt."

"Really? You can control that?" I asked.

"Yes, digadig. It requires a molting ritual to make the fossil bug molt- or shed- it's shell, digadig."

"Molting ritual?" Rosie asked, confused.

"YES! A ritual to make fossil bugs molt their shells, digadig. On the... sacred ground in Digadig Village, we... Vigorously shake our hips, digadig." The chieftain yelled.

"Wait, how does shaking your hips make the bug molt?" Rosie asked.

"Nothing on this island makes sense!" I complained, pulling at my hair. Fang whined and put a hand on his muzzle, ears down.

"It is not... easy. The hip-shaker dance requires great... passion and vigor, digadig." The chieftain said, shaking his hips. "When the fossil bugs feel the... vibrations, they rise to the surface and shed their shells, digadig."

"But why?" I asked, trying to make sense of it.

"Try and see, digadig."

"No way in hell!" I shrieked.

"First I will... demonstrate, digadig." He said, ignoring me. "Shake your hips like this, but with more passion and vigor." He began to shake his hips back and forth.

"Wait, why do WE need to do it, you're already doing it!" Rosie complained.

"My hip shaking it... insignificant. Only the patient, Vigorous shaking of yours will work, digadig" He explained. "Not, follow my example." He instructed, shaking his hips again. "You have... seen the risual. Now you must do it. Let us... begin the ceremony, digadig."

Suddenly a giant bug surfaced. I hand back the urge to say: 'That was way too convenient.' Rosie began to shake her hips, but I hesitated... a long time.

"Jackie!" Rosie scolded. I slowly began to move my hips back and forth, my face burning red.

This was worse than the 6 years of training I had to endor back home! As my face got redder, the bug began to step out of it's shell. We stopped shaking our hips and the bug went back underground.

"Yeah, we did it!... Jackie, are you okey?" Rosie asked, looking at my stiff, shaking body.

"I have endured so much in life. I had horrible pain and anger for years. I trained for years on end, barely eating or sleeping. But... never before have I had to do something so... horrible!" I yelled, covering my crimson face with my hands.

"Is he okay, digadig?" The chieftain asked, whispering to Rosie.

"I don't know, he seems pretty... diga-down." Rosie whispered back.

"Of course I'm diga-down!" I yelled. "Oh, great! Now I'm saying it too! This island is poison!" I yelled, flailing my arms around childishly. Suddenly, the sound of giggling emerged. I looked at Rosie, who was practically on the ground, laughing. "WHAT?!"

"It's just that, you're always so uptight. I never thought I'd see you face so red! Or see you have a tantrum!" She laughed.

"Shut up, it's not a tantrum!" I insisted. Fang whined and looked down. "Not you too! Lets just take the stupid shell and go back."

"Alright." Rosie said, still laughing. I grabbed the shell, muttering a thanks to the Chieftain on my way out. I walked over to a teleporting machine and teleported me and Fang back, leaving Rosie behind. She came through a minute later, yelling about leaving her. I walked to the hotel, going to Nick Nack's room again. Once inside, he greeted us, eyeing the bug shell under my arm, which was catching a lot of attention.

"Mr. Nick Nack, we brought you the bug shell." Rosie said. I handed it to him, making him smile.

"Wonderfull!" He cheered, putting it on a shelf next to him. He looked at me and frowned, leaning over to Rosie and whispering to her. "Is Monsieur Jackie alright?"

"Yeah, he just got embarrassed and through a tantrum, thats all." Rosie whispered back, causing a vein to pop out of my head.

"I can hear you." I growled through clenched teeth.

"Well, this molten bug shell will make a magnificent toboggan in the winter months! You have done very well." Nick Nack prasad.

"Why is everyone using it for a toboggan? And what are toboggans anyways?" I asked.

"There like sleds." Rosie explained.

"You mean we did that stupid dance to get a sled?!" I growled.

"Yeah, pretty much." Rosie said. "So, whats next?"

"It is a Sandal Fossil." Nick Nack said.

"...What?" I asked. Nick Nack went over to another shell and showed us a fossilised sandal. "This island... I've given up trying to understand."

"How? It would have to be underground for hundreds of years, how can a sandal be fossilized?" Rosie asked.

"No need for details. I only have the left one. One sandal is no good for a two legged creature, like me." Nick Nack said, putting the saddle back on the shelf.

"Are you going to wear a rock, covered sandal?" I asked. "Where would we find it anyways? There are so many digging sights, which one would it be in?"

"Wait, what about that dig site where we met, the one with all the junk?" Rosie asked. "Lets try Greenhorn plains." Rosie said, dragging me out of the room. She dragged me into the elevator, down the hallway, and outside. She pushed me, yes pushed, to the boardwalk, handing her card to Beth, saying 'Greenhorn plains please.'

"Alright, here you go." Beth said, Sue petting Fang. "Oh, and Jackie. Sorry about Fang. He saw Mr. Richman walk by and ran off."

"It's alright, we found him." I said, being unnaturally nice. The boat came along and we piled it. It floated over to Greenhorn plains, allowing us to step off. Once on solid ground I let Fang off the leash, letting him run freely.

"A-are you sure we should let him off?" Rosie asked.

"Of course, I cant keep him locked up all the time." I said plainly, walking forward. I reached the edge of the clearing, Rosie hovering close to me, incase Fang got to close. Once by the fence separating the fossing digging area and the junk digging area I whistled to Fang, who came speeding back to me. I pet his ruffly on the head before he began to growl just past the fence.

"W-why is he growling?" Rosie asked.

"Don't know. Something... or someone's in there." I answered.

"Who would be in this place? You can't find any fossils here." Rosie pointed out.

"Perhaps it's not a fossil their looking for." I suggested, peeking into the area. Sure enough, familiar figures were searching around in their purple jumpsuits. Snivels, the closest to up sported us quickly, charging over.

"You two!?" He yelled.

"Yes, it is us. But it's not two." I said, gesturing to Fang as he growled at Snivels.

"H-how did you get out of that pirate ship?! That thing was escape proof!" Snivels claimed.

"I don't think you know what escape proof is." I sighed, putting my hands into my pockets.

"Why did you lock us up in that thing anyways?!" Rosie growled.

"Well, you see, when you've got a bug, you have two options. Trap it... or squash it!" Snivels sneared.

"I'm shaking in my boots." I muttered. "Too bad for you, we're much tougher than bugs." I pulled out my dino medals and my battle machine. The battle started, my Alectro, v-raptor, and Megalo V.S. his Lambeo, Carchar, and Futabi. Of course, like always, I won by a landslide, V-Raptor running low on health at the end.

"You'll see me again, little bugs!" Snivels shouted. "And I'll bring a bigger flyswatter next time!" Then he ran away, crying. Fang, meanwhile, had suddenly appeared after disappearing before. And, in his mouth, was a saddle shaped fossil.

"Good boy, Fang!" I praised, taking the fossil from him. "I guess Fang isn't so useless, hu Rosie!" I smiled, showing my soft spot for the dog like wolf. Happy, Fang licked my cheek, causing me to chuckle a little.

"Whats so funny?" We looked up to see a familiar blond haired lady with a white dress on.

"It's... you." Rosie said. "From the ship."

"Yes." The lady said.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks again for saving us back there." Rosie said.

"It was a coincidence, thats all." She said.

"Oh, I'm Rosie, by the way."

"...I'm Jackie." I said. "And this is Fang."

"Bark!" Fang barked, sniffing the woman.

"Isn't Jackie a girl's name?" The woman asked.

"No... a guy can be Jackie to." I said through gritted teeth. Why did it matter?!

"My name is Duna." She introduced. "By the way... were you, Jackie... throwing a tantrum back when you were doing the hip-shaking dance?"

"It wasn't a tantrum!" I fumed.

"Sorry." Duna said, walking away.

"Wait, how did she know about that?" Rosie asked.

"...Strange." I said, rubbing the back of my head. Fang agreed with me by giving out a low growl. "Lets just get this Sandal Fossil back to Nick Nack and get this over with."

"Mr. Nack, we've got your Sandal Fossil." Rosie said, back in Nick Nack's room.

"OooooOOOOH! How very, very wonderful!" Nick Nack said, taking the fossil from me and putting it on his shelf with it's pair. "Now that I have BOTH sandals, it's like I can have me snake and feet it too!"...What?

"What?" I asked, Fang tipping his head to the side.

"Thank you! Mercy, bee-comb! Grassy us!" Nick Nack said, spinning around like an idiot.

"He's not even trying to make sense anymore." I muttered to Rosie, who nodded her head in agreement.

"So... what's the last thing you want us to get you?" Rosie asked.

"Fast but not feast, I'd like dentures from a denture shark." Nick Nack said.

"D-denture shark!?" Rosie shrieked.

"Easy, they'll all flea at the sight of me." I shrugged.

"Excuse me?" Nick Nack said.

"Lets just say, shark V.S. pickax, pickaxe wins." I shrugged.

"Good, Jackie can deal with this! I'm not going!" Rosie shrieked.

"Okey." I shrugged, not caring either way. "Come on Fang, lets drop you off in my room." I said, leading the loose wolf out of Nick Nack's room. I dropped him off in my room, leaving him whining for attention and went down to the docks.

"Hello, Jackie. Rosie and Fang not with you?" Sue asked, looking around.

"Fang can't swim and Rosie's afraid of sharks. Can I go to bottoms up bey?" I asked nicely, giving Beth my license. She put it in the slot, clicked the button and handed it back to me.

"Have a good trip." Beth smiled. I got on the arriving boat and went down to the bey area. On the small dock, I put on my helmet and dived down to the sea floor. I jerked along the sea floor, swinging my pickax around whenever a shark tried to attack me. At one point I began to use my pickax to drag myself along the sea floor.

I finally was sucked into a hole and ended up in a shark's den. Swiming, kind of, I found a lone pair of dentures in the sand. Convenient. Sadly they were covered in rock. Taking out my drill, I cleaned the rock off of them. Good thing power tools work underwater! I took the pair of dentures and went over to a transportation machine, teleporting me home.

Back on the docks, I removed my helmet and walked back to the hotel. Things go by so much quicker with out Rosie. I entered the hotel but went up to my room first. Fang happily greeted me. I grabbed his leash and led him out of my room, down the elevator, and across the lobby. I walked over to the other elevator and when it opened I was surprised to see one of the BB Bandits standing in my way.

"Ah, how kind of you," Vivian smirked. "To retrieve the shark dentures I wanted. I'll take them now."

"Over your dead body." I growled, taking out my battle machine. My Alectro, V-Raptor, and Megalo V.S. Lexo, Pachrino, and Elasmo. I defeated her with mild difficulty.

"Y-you won't get this lucky again, kid!" Vivian shouted.

"It's not luck, it's skill and leveling." I sighed as she ran away. Fang barked at her before we went up the elevator and into Nick Nack's room. When I entered the room, Rosie greeted me.

"Did you get it?!" She asked.

"It was easy." I said, holding up the dentures.

"Really?! I knew you could do it, Jackie! Your amazing! I-erm- meen... good work." She said, her face a little red. I moved the dentures over and dropped them in front of Nick Nack.

"Here's your last idiom." I said, sighing.

"OoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! My final treasure! How wonderful! And not a single rotten tooth! These will be perfect for cracking even the hardest walnuts!" Nick Nack exclaimed happily.

"Thats... I'm not even going to say anything." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Thank you! Mercy, bee-comb! Grassy us! Donkey shakes!" Nick Nack yelled, causing me to stare in disbelief. Donkey shakes?! "Amazing, Monsieur Jackie. Truly, a herd in your band is worth a few to push!" _Hurry up and give me the stinking beard ribbon_! "As promised, your beard ribbon." He handed me the ribbon and I took it quickly. "By the way... three odd figures wanted that ribbon as well."

"Odd?" I muttered. "Your one to talk."

"I made the same deal with them, but you were obviously more capable than them." Nick Nack said.

"So thats why they were getting in our way!" Rosie said to me. "They wanted the same thing we did, the same strange things!"

"Who wouldn't want a molten bug shell, sandal fossil, and shark dentures?" Nick Nack asked. _Anyone who's sane!_

"Only you, Mr. Nick Nack." I hissed. "Lets give this stupid ribbon to the ghost and go to bed!"

"Someone's cranky.." Rosie sighed.

"It's ten at night! Bottoms Up Bey classes in an hour so lets hurry." I said, grabbing Rosie's arm and pulling her along

"Wow, this is the first time you've dragged me with you." Rosie pointed out. We came out of the elevator, yawning.

"Fang, bed." I instructed. Fang nodded his head and went to the other elevator, going up.

"How... Never mind." Rosie sighed. We walked over to the dock, giving Beth the license and location. We went out to bottoms up bey and went down, under water. I simply walked across the ground, not bothering to act any different from walking on the surface. We went down a hole and into the pirate ship. Up, up, down, right, and at the doors. We entered the room and spotted three familiar figures inside. The BB bandits were putting a ribbon on the ghost pirate beard.

"Ah, that looks perfect on you, captain Woolbeard!" Vivian said. "Very dapper!"

"I'm free! After all these years, I can finally rest my old bones... g-g-g-grrrrr... This isn't it!" The captain screeched out. "This is not me ribbon, ye scurvy scaliwags! Me beard ribbon be much manlier than this!" Suddenly the captain changed into a monstrous looking ghost pirate with a wide open jaw and crazy beard. Suddenly lightning came out of nowhere and nearly hit Vivian. "NooooOOOOooooo! I've been deceived! Ye shall pay, ye turncoats! My ghostly dinosaurs of the sea will teach you!"

"Get out!" Vivian shouted. The three of them ran off, leaving me, Rosie, and the angry captain woolbeard alone.

"I'll take care of this." I said, taking out my battle machine. I battled woolbeard's Krona, Elasmo, and Plesio with my Alectro, V-Raptor, and Megalo. I won the battle, having only trouble with his Krona. Once he was defeated, captain Woolbeard seemed to go back to normal, confused on what was going on.

"What happened?" He asked, confused.

"Nothing sir. Heres your beard ribbon, all nice and snug." I said, tying the ribbon onto his beard.

"Aye! It fits just right! This is... this is definitely my beard ribbon!" The captain smiled with bonny teeth. "Many thanks to ye, sailers! Now I can return to my physical form. Heres your reward." The captain disappeared, leaving something behind.

"Yay, real treasure! Wait... Another tacky idol!?" Rosie exclaimed, going crazy.

"Sweat! This was well worth it!" I smiled, picking up the tall idol.

"DAAA! I thought we would get REAL treasure!" Rosie complained.

"Good enough for me." I shrugged.

"This was such a waste of time! I'm going to bed and going to level-up battles for tomorrow!" Rosie fumed, leaving the room. I followed, the idol in my arms. I exited the room and me and Rosie used the transporter just outside of the room to transport to the dock. There we split off. I went back to the hotel and to my room, yawning. In my room, Rang greeted me quietly, seeing my extortion. I put the taky idol on a shelf with the others and quickly put some food and water in Fang's bowls. I slouched over to the bed and flopped on, already dragging myself and the covers off the bed and onto the floor. Fang joined me on the floor, curling up next to me. I found myself swept away into sleep.

Fireworks went off early the next morning, signaling that the level up battles were ready. I got up off the floor putting more food and water in Fang's bowls. I looked down at Fang. He seemed tired, still sleeping through the fireworks. I decided to leave him in the room that day. How could I wake him up when he waited to late for me?

I exited my room quietly and walked out of the hotel. I walked down to the fossil center and revived a vivosaur quickly, adding Elasmo to my team, replacing V-Raptor and sending him to the back up team. I walked over to the Fossil stadium and into the lobby. I walked over to Tiffany at the front counter who greeted me nicely.

"We are currently accepting entries for level- up battles. Would you like to begin your cleaning test?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, heres my license." She took my license and put it into a machine, taking it out a minute later and handing it back to me.

"You know where it is." She said. I nodded my head and walked over to the cleaning room. Inside the room was KL-34N.

"DEET-DEET-DEET! Time for your cleaning test.-VEEP!" It said. "You need at least 70 points to proceed- VOOP. Lets begin, VEEP!" We walked into the cleaning room and over to the cleaning table. I finished with a great 99 points. "Excellent, you passed your cleaning test-DEET. Now go to Tiffany and go to your fossil battle-YOOP!" The robot left the room and I went over to Tiffany.

"Alright, your battles ready. You have pulmonary battles first. Go." Tiffany said, yawning, pressing a button to open the fossing battle doors. I went in and met with some mining lady who was my opponent. The battle was Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. Jiango, Coatlus, and Onyx. I defeated them all and went back to Tiffany. She went through the procedure again and I entered the hallway again. The second primary battle was my Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. Cerato, U-Raptor, and Goyo. Finally I was at me level-up battle. My opponent was none other then Nick Nack, the crazy collector.

"Monsieur, Jackie. Welcome... to the level-up battle final! Yoop!" Nick Nack said. "I bet you thought you had an easy victory ahead of you, Mr. master beard ribbon. I hate to rain on your Marmalade, but Nack will huff and puff and blow your house down!" He said, entering the battle arena. I followed. I went up on my big rising piller and placed Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo down in their spots. Nick Nack was using his Elasmoth, M-Raptor, and Styraco. I defeated them with a little effort here and there.

The pillar lowered to the ground and I grabbed my Vivosaurs, walking out of the stadium area. I walked out into the lobby, where Nick Nack was waiting for me.

"Monsieur Jackie! Congradulations! You beat me Pear and squair! Then again, you did collect all three incredibly rare idioms for me, AND defeat an enraged Woolbeard." Nick Nack said.

"How did you know about defeating Woolbeard?" I asked.

"Misure Richman told me." Nick Nack informed. "You seem to make a habit of doing the impossible."

"Well, I wouldn't say the impossible." I said, scratching the back of my neck. I had to admit, the compliments were kind of appreciated.

"I would! I hereby certify you as a level 5 fossil fighter." Nick Nack said, handing me a new lissens. It was like the others, just with a 5 on it, and I seemed a little bigger this time around. "I won't hesitate to ask if I need anything else thats special. Toodle-loo!" He said, leaving the fossil stadium.

"Jackie!" I turned my head to see Rosie, who had snuck up behind me, trying to scare me. It didn't work. "How'd you do?"

"Level 5." I said, holding my license in my pointer and middle finger.

"Thats great! I lost my second preliminary, but I'm going to try again! I'm not going to give up!" Rosie said, balling her fists.

"You can do it." I smiled, putting my hand on her head. I pulled away quickly. Why did I do that?

"T-thanks. Oh, yeah. I heard the Captain Woolbeard was never actually released from his spirit form. Apparently, his battle with you got him hooked on fossil battles, so he's battling anyone who finds his room. But you know, I'm kind of curious of those idols now. They show up so often... How about tomorrow we take them to Dr. Diggens to analyze?"

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"Well, see you tomorrow!" Rosie said, waving and going into the fossil stadium. I was close to going out there and watching her battle, but Fang MUST have woken up by now. Best not to leave him for too long.

I walked out of the stadium and down to the hotel I walked up to the elevator and into my room. Fang was eating his food when I entered. Spotting me, Fang barked and came over. I greeted him happily.

"Hey buddy. We have the day off, so lets go to the store." I walked over to my desk and put my level 4 license with the others. I grabbed Fang's leash and walked Fang out of the hotel. I walked down to the guild area. I walked into the shop, walking over to the store man. He turned to me and smiled.

"Hello. You ordered some dog food and toys the other day, correct?" He asked.

"Yes sir." I nodded. He bent down and grabbed a bag of dog food and a box of toys. I took them, paying for the food and toys. "Also, can I have a sonar upgrade and another bag?"

"Sure." I turned to Fang, smiling.

"Lets drop the food off at home and go down to Green Horn Plains for a good day of fun and relaxation."

"Bark!"


	7. The BB Boss Revealed

I woke up in my room, on the floor, Fang's toys spread around me and Fang on top of me. I shuffled up, waking Fang as well. My mustens ascend from how much I had run around yesterday.

I spent the entire day with Fang yesterday, running around and playing. Now I was paying the price for it. At least Fang was satisfied. I gave Fang his food and water and picked up my Taky idols. Rosie said she wanted Dr Diggens to take a look at them. I refilled Fang's food and water, leaving it for the afternoon. I grabbed Fang and went down stairs, yawning.

"Jackie." I turned to see the hotel manager.

"Good morning sir. What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I wanted you to know that the advanced fighter seminar is being held over at Rivet Ravine. It's recommended that aspiring fossil fighters like yourself." The hotel manager informed.

"Thank you, I'll check it out later." I said, bowing to him. He went back to the counter and I left the hotel. Once I walked outside I was stopped by a policeman.

"Excuse me, Jackie. You're needed at the police station for questioning." He said.

"Why?" I asked, Fang growling a little.

"I was just told to bring you, thats all." He shrugged. I followed him to the police station. I was pulled into the chef's room and they closed to door.

"Sorry to drag you down here, Jackie. But theres something I need to ask you." Bullworts said. I sighed and looked at him.

"Ask away."

"You see... Rosie's been kidnaped." The captain said, causing my eyes to widen. I called it! I so called it back in the ship! But... now that it's happened...

"What happened!" I demanded, angry.

"We got a letter from the kidnappers. Let me read it." He said, pulling a letter in front of his face. "'Bring the idols to the park area dock.'"

"Thats a stupid letter!" I hissed, rushing out of the police station. I rushed out of the guild area and down to the park. I went to the dock and found a black boat waiting there. When I got near it a BB Bandit appeared.

"Looks like you brought the idols. Smart." He sneered. Thats when it him me. I didn't actually have them... I decided to just roll with it. "I'll take those, thank you! B-b-b-beeeee!" He said.

"Fang." I said, pointing at the BB Bandit. "Eat." I said. Fang growled at him and ran towards him, pushing him off the boat. I went over to the controls and pressed the autopilot. We flew over the waves, my anger slowly calming... a little. I was still on high anger but at least I could think straight.

Suddenly an island came into view. It was big and raggedy with an unsafe looking dock about to fall apart. I got off the boat and walked down the dock, Fang growling intensely at the smell of BB Bandit.

I walked into the 'cave' thing to find it filled with BB Bandits. They rushed towards me but I 'Beat' them to the 'punch'... That meant I beat the crap out of them, with my fists and wolf. I went to the next floor and did the same. Soon, however, I found Rex the dog in front of me. He and Fang have a little growling party before I had my battle. It was my Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. his Megath, Nodo, and Zino. I defeated him easily and moved onto the next floor. I scared all of the other BB Bandits away easily this time and met up with Snivels.

"You're not getting by me, squirt!" Snivels said.

"Shut up and fight, big nose!" I growled, battling him. It was my Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. Acro, Carchar, and a Ourano. Of course, I won.

"Arg. You wouldn't have beaten me if I had my second cup of coffee!" He claimed.

"Well you didn't, so move." I growled, Fang pushing him out of the way. I climbed up to the next floor where Vivian was waiting for me.

"Well, haven't you grown up, making it to the fifth floor." She sneared.

"Battle me or get eaten." I threatened, pointing at the growling wolf beside me. It was Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. Styraco, Dilopho, and Hypsi. I defeated her and pushed past her into the Boss's room.

I entered the room and looked around. It was a yellow tile floor in a circular room. In the middle of the room was... the police chief?

"Sir, why are you here?" I asked, glaring at him with red eyes. He turned around, smirking.

"Well, well, well. Jackie, what took you so long?" He asked, smirking wider. "I knew you would get here soon, with your accomplishments. Polar kidnaped Rosie has been wondering if you were EVER going to show up." He stepped to the side to reveal Rosie, tied up in a chair, with a piece of duct tape on her mouth.

"MMMMMMF! MMM FFF!" She called out. I felt my anger boil.

"Let me guess, you're kicking yourself for not seeing this coming, right?" He laughed. Suddenly, his uniform was replaced with a... BB Bandit's uniform.

"Bastard!" I yelling, punching him in the gut.

"What the hell!" He yelled. "You better hand over the idols before Rosie here gets hurt."

"I'll beat you!" I yelled, taking out my battle machine. He did the same, battling Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo with Shuno, Salto, and Amargo. I defeated him with a bit of difficulty, more than I had for a white. But, after all, my dinosaurs were on level 9. Once he was defeated two policemen came into the room.

"We heard everything." One said. "You're under arrest, captain Bulworth." They put him in handcuffs and took him away. I rushed over to Rosie and untied her, taking the tape off of her mouth.

"Thank you." She said. Then, I bonked her on the head. "Hey!"

"What the HELL!" I yelled, causing her to flinch. "How the hell do you get KIDNAPED!? I can't believe you! Do you realise how worried I got?! I thought they were gonna dangle you over a pit of sharks or something! Grrrrr! Damit! Why the hell do you get me so... pissed off!?" I yelled, shaking my head.

"I-...I'm sorry." She said, lowering her head. "But... I am grateful."

"What ever. Lets get you home before your grandfather has a heart attack. Geze, really. You can be scary as hell but in the end you're always so... helpless! You're afraid of wolfs, sharks, and probably bugs too." I said, dragging her down the hallways.

"Bugs are okay." She said.

"You get a curse on you, get trapped by sharks, get your medals stolen...really. And then kidnaped. What am I gonna do with you... You really piss me off, how you're always in need of help. So take care of yourself!" I growled.

"I... I really am sorry... But... I'm glad you still came to get me." Rosie whispered.

"Whatever." I growled, getting on the boat with Fang out by the dock we had finally reached. I helped Rosie get on and then pressed the autopilot.

We sat in silence on the way back. When the boat stopped at the dock I got up and off. Rosie stood up and tried to get off, but fell.

"Klutz." I muttered. Fang whimpered at Rosie's pain, jumping off the boat and sitting close to her, worried.

"Ow! My ankle!" She cried, gripping her ankle tightly. Without a word I walked over to her and lifted her onto my back, carrying her. "W-wha-"

"You can't walk, right? I'll carry you." I said, not bothering to look at her. "Okay?"

"Y-yeah." She said, burying her face into my back. I walked into the guild area and carried Rosie to the Richman's building. I walked inside and over to the elevator. We went up and entered the Richman's room. He was pacing the room, a worried look on his face.

"Mr. Richman." I said, catching his attention. I could see his tensed body loosen up and his eyes soften. He rushed over and I put Rosie on the ground, supporting her weight with my body.

"Rosetta! Your safe! Thank goodness!" He cried, hugging her. I sighed and turned around, heading for the exit. "Hold on a minute, Jackie." I stopped and turned around, looking at Richman.

"Yes?"

"Thank you, Jackie. I can't express how grateful I am. You saved my only granddaughter." He smiled. I stared at him and nodded.

"I'm still a little curious..." Rosie said. "Why go through all of this for those idols?" I narrowed my eyes, thinking.

"I learned from the investigators that they were hired for the job." Mr. Richman said.

"How could they be THAT important that someone would hiar than to steal them?" I asked, crossing my arms and glaring at the air with red eyes. Who ever it was, it's their fault that Rosie got kidnaped.

"But, hear this." Mr. Richman said. "A man and a woman were paying them 10 trillion Gs for the four idols."

"Thats insane!" Rosie cried, eyes wide.

"But wait, I only have three." I pointed out.

"Can you bring them to Dr. Diggins later, after the level-up battle. Rosie," Mr. Richman said, turning to the pink haired girl. "I don't mind you entering Fossil Battles, but don't do anything else to get your self in trouble."

"Yes grandpa." Rosie said.

"Jackie, please keep an eye on my precious Rosie." Richman said to me.

"I'm sure I will have to." I sighed, causing Fang to bark his laughter.

"Hey!" Rosie complained. "What ever. Jackie, lets get ready for tomorrow's level-up battles." She stormed out of the room. I shrugged at Fang and headed to the exit. I left the Richman's building and walked down to the hotel in the main area. I walked into the hotel and up the elevator, Fang following closely. It was dark out now and I was ready to sleep. But first... Entering my room, I walked over to the idols. Fang went over and ate his food, which I had refilled in the morning for him. I looked at the idols, which I had apparently forgotten on the bed. I looked at my three idols. One was short and thin. One was short and fat. And the last one was tall and thin. I looked at them with interest.

Suddenly a wave of sleep came over me and I drowsily plopped myself on the bed, nearly knocking the idols onto the floor. I let myself drift off into sleep, closing my eyes and letting my world be engulfed in my own darkness.

I woke up on the floor, like usual. The three idols were scattered around me, strangely standing up. Fang was sleeping next to me, his belly moving up and down peacefully. I got up and undid the tangle of covers that were practically tied onto me. I got up, refilling Fang's bowls.

I yawned and heard the fireworks go off for level-up battles. Fang work with a start from the noise but calmed down quickly. Fang got to work on his meal while I threw the covers back onto my bed. I picked up the idols and stuffed one into my bag. The other two couldn't fit. How would I...

"Fang, come here." I called, picking up his bags. I snapped them into his back and put the idols in them. Perfect! "Alright, lets go level-up." I said, opening the door and riding the elevator downstairs.

I left the hotel with Fang and walked down the path to the fossil stadium. I walked inside and over to Tiffany, who was waiting patiently for the fossil fighters to begin to pour in. As I approached her, her face lit up and she smiled at me.

"Welcome, Jackie. We're now beginning the level-up battles. I'm guessing you want to begin." Tiffany smiled. I nodded my head and handed her my level 5 fossil fighter license. She smiled and took it, putting it into her machine and handing it back to me. "Good luck on your cleaning test."

"Thanks." I smiled lightly, walking over to the cleaning room. I could see out of the corner of my eye Tiffany's surprised look. I had never thanked her before, and frankly was never to friendly either. I entered the hallway and went over to KL-34N. The yellow robot greeted me as usual.

"DEET-DEET-DEET! Time for your cleaning test-VEEP." KL-34N said. "This time around you will need 75 points to pass-VOOP. Lets begin! VEEP." KL-34N lead me into the cleaning room and over to the cleaning table. Fang sat down and I let go of his leash, letting it drop to the floor unattended. I took out my tools and went to work on the fossil. I finished the cleaning early and had a score of 100 points.

Satisfied with my work, I put away my tools and picked up Fang's leash. KL-34N lead me out of the room and into the main lobby.

"Excellent! You passed your cleaning test-DEETDEETDEET!" KL-34N said. "Go see Tiffany for your Fossil Battle test-VOOP!" KL-34N then floated away. I walked over to Tiffany, who smiled warmly at me.

"Congratulations on passing your cleaning test." Tiffany smiled. "Next is your Fossil Battle test. You will have three battles this time- two preliminaries and a final battle. This time you will need to win each battle within a fixed number of turns."

"So, basically, it's a test to see how fast I can counter an opponent's strategy." I muttered and Tiffany nodded.

"For the first preliminary, you must win within 12 turns. You may start when you're ready." Tiffany said. I nodded my head in thanks and walked over to the battle arena door, Fang close on my heels. I entered the hallway and met with a girl with blond hair and short cloths.

"Hey, what do you think of this limited-turn battle thing?" She asked.

"It's merely another obstacle to overcome." I shrugged.

"Yeah. Well, lets give it our all. Good luck." She said. We walked out into the stadium and took our places on the pillars. Placing Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo down, I prepared to fight my opponent's V-Raptor, Nychus, and Shanshan. The battle was practically over before it began.

The girl and I exited the stadium and stood in the main lobby. Fang sat close to me, yawning.

"I guess this turn thing just got to me." The girl said, rubbing the back of her head. I kept feeling the turn limit closing in on me! But I must say, you've got talent! You'll go far-I can see it!" She said, walking away from me. I walked over to Tiffany, who welcomed me back with a smile.

"Good job. Now, the second preliminary round is just like the first, beat your opponent in 12 turns. You can go right ahead when you're ready." Tiffany said. I walked over to the battle arena door again and stood in the hallway. This time I was up against... an old lady.

"Well hello, sonny." She greeted. I walked over to her. "Looks like you're turning into quite the fossil fighter. Hehehehe. But, the wise old turtle will always outsmart the young fox."

"That depends on how the fox plays his cards." I said back, my voice vibrating with confidence.

"Well now, lets see if you can back that up." She said.

We walked into the battle arena, stood on the pillars, and placed our Vivosaurs down. My normal team was up against her Coatlus, Alectro, and Futbi. We left the arena and stood in the lobby, talking.

"I can't believe it. I never lose." She said. "Good job. You were right, it all depends on how the fox plays his cards." She walked away from me and I went to see Tiffany. The pink haired lady was talking to Wendy, the Fossil Center desk receptionist. As I walked over, I caught their eyes and they greeted me.

"Hello, Jackie." Wendy said, her greenish brown hair bouncing around her face.

"Looks like you've made it to the final battle again, Jackie!" Tiffany said. "I'm not surprised, you're a great fossil fighter."

"Thanks." I said.

"This time you will have to win in 10 turns instead of 12. You can go in when you're ready." Tiffany smiled. "Good luck."

"Good luck, Jackie!" Wendy smiled.

"Thank you." I said, turning away, catching Wendy's surprised look. I walked over to the battle door and walked inside. I stopped, looking at my opponent. A dark skinned man with glasses and teal hair. He wore a white labcoat and sandals with an island shirt underneath. Dr. Diggins.

"Excellent, Jackie!" Dr. Diggins said. "You made it to the final battle! Your success against the BB Bandits clearly wasn't luck, but was sunsear talent and skill. Get ready, Jackie. Lets see if you can beat me within the turn limit."

"I won't lose." I said, Fang nodding his head in agreement. Dr. Diggins gave me a smile and we walked into the battle arena. We took our places on the podiums and placed down our Vivosaurs. Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. Stego, Shuno, and Dilopho. Shuno was the only problem, bringing my Megalo down and Dilopho was annoying because it gave Dr. Diggins more FP to work with.

We exited the arena and went into the lobby, like usual. Tiffany and Wendy were still talking at the desk, giggling and smiling. Fang sat down by me as me and Dr. Diggins talked.

"Congratulations, Jackie." Dr. Diggins said. "Beating me is no mean feat, if I may say so. I'm really impressed at how much progress you've made since coming here. It's only been, what, three, four weeks since you came? You've obviously been focusing on doing your digging and cleaning. I have to admit, the first time we talked, I could tell you would go far. Again, great work Jackie." He smiled. "I hereby certify you, Jackie, as a level 6 fighter!"

Dr. Diggins handed me my license. I looked at it, smiling. It had my name, face, and level 6 on it. Suddenly it was swiped away from me and handed back with a stamp on it.

"Sorry, I forgot the stamp." Da zha vu? "Just keep on diggin, you hear me. Dig, dig, and dig some more! Go get them, Jackie!" Dr. Diggins said. "By the way, those idols Mr. Richman told me about..."

"Oh, here." I said, pulling one out of my bag and the other two out of Fang's bags.

"Thanks. I'll take a look at these in my lab. Come by in two days and I'll tell you what I know." Dr. Diggins said, talking the idols with him out the door, stumbling, having a hard time carrying them all.

"Jackie!" I turned my head to see none other then my pink friend, Rosie running towards me. "Hey, did you already level-up?"

"Yep, I'm level 6 now." I said, giving her a small smile.

"I'm not surprised. You're a natural at all things fossil, and you just keep getting better and better." Rosie said. "I'm getting ready for my final battle, but the first two were hard enough! Level 6 never seemed so far away."

"Don't worry, you'll get there." I said, patting her on the head. Her cheeks heated up and she looked away.

"Thanks... I still can't get over Captain Bullwort being the BB Boss..." Rosie said.

"I never liked him." I admitted. "I had a bad feeling in my gut since I met him."

"Really?" Rosie asked.

"The way he held himself was strange for his position of authority and his voice also... All around I disliked him." I shrugged. Rosie nodded and then looked away. She walked away from me and I assumed she was leaving, until she stopped. I watched her as she paced a little, every once in a while giving me quick glances. Suddenly she turned to me.

"One more thing, Jackie... Would you... can you meet me in the park tonight?... I-uh, want to talk about something- if thats alright." Rosie stuttered, looking down, her face slightly red.

"Sure." I shrugged.

"T-thanks... S-see you." She said, walking away from me and into the battle arena. I turned my head to see Wendy and Tiffany looking at me, eyes wide and goofy smiles on their faces.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." Wendy said, giggling with Tiffany. I looked at Fang and shrugged.

"Wonder what's with them." I muttered. Fang put a paw on his nose, shaking his head.


	8. Awoken From The Fires

It was dark out, about 9 o'clock at night. The park was lit up beautifully with a few street lights and seemingly abandoned. The cicadas chirping and the wind blew through the trees. I walked down the trail, into the park. I left Fang back in the hotel, despite his protest. I smelled the air, taking in all the saints.

I turned my head to see the familiar figure of Rosie. She stood by the water, leaning over the fence to see the ocean's waves roll on the water's surface. The moon was full and the stars shone in the sky ahead of her. I approached her, catching her attention. As she turned to me I took knowtis to her hair. She was not wearing her usual hat and her pink hair was drawn from her pigtails and was instead braided down her back.

"Thanks for coming." She said softly. I stood by the fence, the light of one street lamp we stood by catching part of my face, making the rest shadowy.

I simply blinked hard at her, silently giving her an 'of course I came, you asked me before, didn't you?'

"Well... the reason I asked you to come here tonight, Jackie, was because I wanted to sincerely thank you." Rosie admitted. I watched her as she turned away to look back at the ocean. "Um... when..." She began to pace around again, trying to find the right words.

I watched her with my red eyes as she paced back and forth in front of me. She gave a small, quiet laugh, as if embarrassed to say the next part.

Suddenly, she turned to me. "Thank you for coming to save me from the BB Bandits!" She blurted out. "I was... trying to act tough, like a wasn't scared... but I was. I was more scared than I have ever been before in my life. I just kept on thinking 'what are they going to do to me?' 'Is anyone going to ever save me?' But then... you showed up... and you saved me. I was... so relieved to see you, I can't even begin to say... But really, thank you. Thank you so much."

I didn't say anything, just stood there in silence. She walked over to the fence and out at the ocean, resting her elbows on the gold medal and propping her chin up on her hands.

"It's funny, Jackie, when I think about it. You've helped me so many times now; when my medals were stolen, when that spell was cast on me, and when I thought I was going to be eaten by those sharks. And then yesterday... with all the trouble I've put you through... you must really hate me now, hu?" Rosie said, keeping her gaze from me. I stood in silence, looking at her. I could feel the tension building up. She was becoming more and more fearful the longer my silence hung in the air. I gave a sigh and stuck my hands in my pockets.

"You know..." I started. "You right. I should hate you. You annoy me, you're so capricious so often, you scary as hell, yet you're completely helpless..."

I could see Rosie shrivel up under my words. She was hurt. But I was not finished. Not yet. There was much more to say.

"...But, for God knows why, I don't." Rosie looked at me with big eyes, erging me to go on. "I've never liked someone who can't talk care of himself. I hated it when everyone leanes on me. But, for some reason, it's different with you. No matter what you get yourself into, you still dust yourself off and get yourself into something else, sometime it seems like you do it umpurpuse. And no matter how much I coach myself into not trying to help you, I blink and next thing I know, poof, I'm taking the hit for you."

"Really?" Rosie asked in a small voice. I walked to the fence and leaned forward on it, bending down and looking down at the water.

"No reason to lie. You know, I hate a lot of people... a lot... but no matter how much I tried in the past, I could never really find myself truly hating you. I guess... I've never really had the companionship before. Your companionship before. Never have I had someone say, 'It's okay, you're doing great!' 'Just keep at it!' 'Lets get stronger... together.' No, I've only heard 'What was that supposed to be?' 'You're not doing it hard enough.' 'As expected from his father's son.' 'You're on your own for this one.'... I've even heard worse... especially from my father." I admitted.

"What did he say?" Rosie breathed, leaning closer to me.

"...'You're no son of mine'." I choked. "But you know, I don't think it hurt to much, because I've never been close to anyone. Buy now... now things are different. I have friends for the first time. I'm not judged by who my father is. I'm even talented at something! Heh, who would have ever guessed..." I said, choking out a bitter laugh.

"I think you great!" Rosie exclaimed. "Your really tough! You're really quick to learn, your confident, and really cool! I mean..." Rosie turned away from me, her face a little red. "Your unlike anyone I've ever met before, thats for sure. Life is never dull since I met you." Rosie pulled her braid over her shoulder and began to twiddle with the end of it.

"You're wearing your hair differently." I pointed out. She nodded, twiddling more. "I like it... but..." I reached out and put my hand on her head, causing her to jump and look at me. "I like it the way you usually wear it more."

"O-oh..." She said, looking down.

"You don't have to worry, I'll always protect you." I petted her head a little before letting my arm drop to my side. I reached for my hat and took it off, letting my red hair fall down, showing it's length. It was much more wavy down and was always pointed at the ends, shooting out all over the place.

"Your hair is really nice down like that." Rosie pointed out.

"Yeah, but it always falls in my face." I shrugged.

"Oh! I should go!" Rosie cried, jumping back. "Grandpa will be mad if I'm out too late... See you tomorrow, Jackie." Rosie turned away from me and walked away before stopping. "Oh, wait! One more thing!" Rosie ran back over to me. She stopped right in front of me. She bent over and placed her lips gently on my cheek. She pulled away and rushed away, giving me a quick "Good night."

She soon disappeared, leaving me alone. I still watched after her. I turned to the water, looking at my reflection below me. Red eyes, red hair, pale skin, and red cloths. I sighed, shaking my head. "What am I thinking?"

I woke up in my room two days later. I was on the floor with Fang, like always. I got up, cracking my back before doing my morning routine; feed Fang, get my stuff together, and lazily throw my covers on the bed so I can get angry about it at night. I snapped the collar and leash onto Fang, loosening it up for him, since it was too small again. He was growing so fast it was unbelievable.

I exited my room and took Fang downstairs. I walked across the lobby and exited the hotel. I looked up, squinting my eyes. It was so bright here in the mornings, it hurt my eyes. I use to hate it, but now, it was welcome. The sun's heat warmed my skin and even Fang basked in it's warmth with me, raising his head and closing his eyes.

"Hey you!" I turned my head before leveling it and looking at a man who was calling me. He had a straw hat on and blue vacation cloths. "I heard you've made it to level 6."

"Then you've heard correctly." I said, squaring my shoulders.

"Well congratulation... I guess. Sorry if I don't seem happy for you but it's just that it's too bad you'll never make it to master fighter." He shrugged.

"And why not?" I asked, turning my body to him, curiosity peaking in my voice more than aggression.

"Your career is about to run into a brick wall!" A little brown haired boy said, who was standing next to the man. "A brick wall called Saurhead."

"Who's he?" I asked, slitting my eyes.

"Suarhead is the last level master who is a mysterious masked fighter who never, ever loses." The man answered, a look of admiration in his eyes as he spoak. Suddenly a roar arose through the air.

"That voice!" The boy said. I turned around to see a big man standing by me, his back facing me. He had a yellow shirt, black pants with flames by the leg holes, and tanned skin. He suddenly turned around to reveal...a freaky, green dinosaur mask with red eyes and sharp, pointed out teeth... The heck?

"It is myself," He boomed. "Saurhead." He walked over to me, looking down on me. I stared up at him with a blank face and red eyes. "So, you made it past the chumps, punk? But now you in the big leagues and your mama aint here. When I get you in the fossil stadium my Vivosaurs will teach you all new places to feel pain. I'll steamroller you like a bulldozer, kid!" He said. He walked past me, bumping my shoulder, causing Fang to growl at him, fluffing up his fur. I could practically see Fang's ice blue eyes turn red with anger.

"Wow, he's totally gonna steamroller you! Saurhead is so awesome!" The boy said, following Saurhead into the hotel.

"You should just retire right now. We wouldn't think any less of you and you get to keep your bones." The man said, following the boy but stopped before entering, listening to my words.

"There is no way he'll beat me, not with that attitude." I hissed, turning away. I walked down the path, down to Beth and Sue. Then, I heard someone call to me.

"Jackie!" I turned around to see none other than Dr. Diggins. He rushed over to me, standing in front of me. "There is a favor I'd like to ask you. I've been examining the markings on these tacky idols and it seems there should be one more. So while you out looking for fossils, would you also keep your eye out for one more idol? Since you found three of them already I figure that if there is anyone I can count on, it's you!"

"Sure, I'll do my best." I said.

"Thanks! here, let me see your sonar system. I'll install a chip to make it able to detect idols." I took out my sonar and handed it to him. He fiddled with it a little before handing it back to me. "There you go, now your sonar will be able to detect idols. Of course, it will still be able to detect fossils too. Now that you're level 6 you should be able to dig in MT. Lava Flow. There are some good fossils out there and it's your last level- up battle before you become a master fighter. You can do it! You'll be a master fighter in no time and you can find the remaining idol as well! Good luck, Jackie!" Dr. Diggins said before walking away, heading to the Fossil Center.

I walked over to Beth and sue who were talking nervously to each other. They looked at me and frowned.

"Jackie, I have to tell you something." Beth said. "I just received word that the BB Bandits escaped from jail."

"What?!" I felt my blood boil and I gripped Fang's leash.

"Yes, so please be careful out there." Sue said, frowning.

"I will, thank you." I said. "Can I go to MT. Lava Flow?" I asked, holding out my license.

"I hope you'll leave Fang here, it is called MT LAVA Flow, after all." Sue said as Beth took my license.

"Right. Fang, bed." I ordered. Fang rushed off, back to the hotel and inside.

"Thats one smart pup." Sue said, impressed.

"Now, Jackie. There are a lot of earthquakes in MT Lava Flow, so be careful. Also, MT. Lava Flow's curfew is usually 10:00, but it's so hard to check these days, so try to be back in time." Beth said.

"I will." I said.

"Here, Jackie, take this water with you, you'll need it." Sue said, handing me a plastic water bottle.

"Thank you." I said, waiting for the boat. I hopped on the boat when it pulled up and headed to MT. Lava Flow. Once there, I got off the boat, landing on the hot ground. Walking inside the cave, I found the brown walls surrounding large pools of lava. There were only little path ways in which I could walk on beyond me.

But there was a bigger problem at hand. In the pathway was a giant boulder that blocked the way. I looked at it, frowning. How would I get past this? Surely I could climb it, but frankly, I really didn't want to. I could slid off into the lava if I slipped up there. The thought of that made me whins.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a flicker of white. Turning my head, I saw a familiar woman, dressed in all white with blond hair. Duna.

"What is the matter?" She asked, walking up to me.

"Well, there is a giant rock here. Get the picture?" I sighed, looking at the rock.

"I see, that would be an issue, now wouldn't it. Perhaps I may assist?" Duna asked. I turned to her, my eyebrow raised.

"Knock yourself out." I said, backing away from the bolder. Suddenly, she pulled a laser gun from her pocket and blasted the rock. I stared at her with wide eyes and my mouth dropped open. Now that was a bad ass lady.

"There, you may now proceed." She said calmly. I nodded my head and walked down the path, my red eyes still wide from shock. Trying not to fall in lava, I stepped over the remains of the bolder, walking down the thin path of rock that jutted out of the lava.

Walking around on the rock, I soon came to a cave where I found another boulder blocking the path inside. It seemed much smaller in here and I would have turned back and looked somewhere else if it wasn't for my sonar going crazy.

"I see we're running into the same problem again." I turned around to see Duna once more. "*Sigh* I suppose I should help you, since I can. All right, stand back." She ordered. I stood back and Duna blasted the rock with her laser gun. "There, now you may proseed."

"Thanks." I said, walking forward. I clicked my sonar until I found the place the sonar was leading me to. I took my pickax and stabbed it hard into the Earth, uncovering the face of an idol. I dug it out with my hands, despite the burning heat of the ground. Grabbing it, I yanked the tiny idol out of the ground. It was tan, like the others but with green lines on it. It was short and thin with a spiky mohawk.

"Well done." Duna said, walking over to me. Out of no where I felt the hairs on my skin rize. Something was not right about her. "I'll be taking the idol now. So please hand it over now." I stood up, picking it up and holding it close.

"Why should I?" I snapped, my red eyes practically glowing from the red light of the lava.

"Hand it over, NOW!" She ordered, glaring. Suddenly she was surrounded by rainbow light. She jumped back and the light momentarily disappeared before it came back.

This time when it died down, left in her place was no longer the beautiful, cream skinned woman. Her blond hair was replaced with pink coloring. Her already pointy ears became pointier. Her cream skin was blue and scaly and her clothes were replaced with blue skinny cloths and a tail protruded from her.

"This is not good, the heat from the lava must be disrupting my holographic transformation technology." Duna said, looking at her hands. I looked at her, shocked. She... wasn't human. I always felt something was off about her, but this... She turned to me, blank faced.

"So, you're not human, are you?" I asked carefully.

"Yes, I am not. Regrettably I can not allow humans that see me in this form to live." Duna said.

"Oh really now." I said. Suddenly Duna's body flashed once more and a battle field was opened up. My battle machine activated on it's own and I was forced into a battle. I looked at the line up. I was facing two Dinomatons and... Duna? Wait, Duna turned into a Vivosaur? So the people on this island weren't the only ones who made no sense. I put my Alectro, Elasmo, and Magalo down. The battle was slightly challenging thanks to Duna... the Vivosaur. But in the end I prevailed.

"This..." Duna said. "This is unacceptable." Suddenly the ground began to shake. "Ah-Earthquake!" I dropped to the ground, holding on tightly to the idol. Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise and the shaking stopped. I looked up to see a giant boulder had fallen... and it fell on top of Duna! I had half the mind to leave her there, to just let her perish, but she and I... shared something that I couldn't share with another person on the planet. Sighing, I put the idol into the bag and grabbed my hamer and pickax.

Swinging it as hard as I could, I crashed my pickaxe into the bolder and smashed the end of it with my hammer, causing it to crack. I did it again and soon the boulder fell apart. I looked down at Duna, who laid without movement. I bent down and picked her up, dragging her head to my lap. I placed my hand on her throat, feeling it move up and down slightly.

She was alive. I took the water bottle Sue gave me out of my bag and ripped a piece of my sleeve off, dabbing it with water and squeezing little drops of water into Duna's mouth. Than I placed the re-dampened cloth and put it on her forehead, drinking some water myself. Man it was hot. I looked down at Duna and brushed her pink hair behind her ear. She was lucky she didn't get hurt. That could have been nasty.

Suddenly she stirred. She blinked open her golden eyes and looked at me, half asleep. She groaned and looked at me, eyes squinted, trying to figure out who I was. Suddenly she sprung up, gasping.

"W-what are you doing!?" She shrieked.

"Saving you." I said blankly.

"W-why?" She asked, slightly taken back by my kindness. "After what I did..."

"So?" I asked, eyebrow raised. "You were trapped and I was the only one around. Did you really expect me to be so cruel?"

"...You are... confusing." Duna said, standing up and facing away from me as I sat on the floor cross legged. "I do not understand mammals at all."

"Would you have left a friend of yours under a boulder?" I asked, propping my chin on my hand. Duna visibly flinched when the word 'friend' was used. Instead of answering, she simply walked away, leaving me alone. I sighed and stood up, grabbing my bag and flinging it over my shoulder.

"Jackie!" I lifted my head and turned to the entrance of the smaller cave. There I spotted Rosie running towards me, panting. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees before composing herself. "I'm so glad you're safe! That was a major earthquake! Hey, did you find the idol?"

"In bag." I said, opening my bag to show the smaller idol in my bag.

"Great! We should get that tacky idol back to Grandpa as fast as possible." Rosie said.

"Yeah, lets go." I said, walking down to the exit of the cave. I quickly located the teleportation machine and went back to town with Rosie. Appearing on the dock, me and Rosie began to walk until I noticed Sue and Beth calling out to us.

"Jackie, Rosie, We've got big trouble!" Sue called out. I rushed over to them, my body tense. Duna didn't do anything, right?

"Vivosaur Town has been taken over by the BB Bandits!" Beth cried.

"What?!" I cried, anger clearly eminent in my voice, quickly turning to rage.

"The BB Boss is using the Richmen building as his command center." Beth quickly explained.

"What?!" Rosie cried, eyes wide with fear. "Grandpa!?"

"Dammit!" I hissed. "Their gonna eat my pickax!"

"The BB Bandits' boss is trying to capture all the fossils on Vivosaur island. Jackie, if there is one person who can help us, it's you!" Beth cried.

"Wheres Fang?" I asked.

"He's been holding the BB Bandits out of this area." Sue said. "He's really keeping them away."

"Good. I'll go right away. Rosie, maybe you should..."

"No way!" She cried. "Grandpa's in danger! I'm going with you."

"...Fine." I agreed. We ran off to the entrance of the guild area, spotting to see Fang chasing off two BB Bandits. "Fang!" I called. Fang turned his head, wagging his tail and rushing over. "Good boy, Fang." I said. I rushed into the guild area, Fang and Rosie not far behind. All around the area was about 10 scattered BB Bandits, keeping guard. On my way to the Richman building I fought about 5 of them in boring, easy battles. Rushing into the Richman building, we went up the elevator and walked into Mr. Richmans' office. Walking to the desk, I spotted Bullwort with two BB Grunts sitting behind the desk.

Bullwort stood up when he saw me, immediately threatened. I felt a surge of pride at that, but anger quickly boiled over it.

"You!" He boomed. "Jackie!"

"Yeah, who else?" I hissed, red eyes hard and deadly.

"I must admit, I'm impressed that you beat me before. But you won't be so lucky again."

"Whys that?"

"My defeat was bitter, but I'm going to enjoy forcing that bitterness down your throat, tenfold. And how you ask? With Frigisaurus! Even I was surprised to find out just how powerful this legendary beast is." He chuckled deviously.

"Frigisaurus..." I breathed. I had never heard of it before.

"It's not merely more powerful than everyone else-it's in a different league entirely! With this Vivosaur at my command, world domination is easily within my grasp! Compared to what I've achieved, near wealth is nothing! I have no need for worthless paper anymore!" He laughed. "With this Vivosaur at my command, I'll wipe out everyone who dares to oppose me!" Suddenly his feachers turned dark with greed and power lust. "Enough talk! I'll simply demonstrate my new power!"

Bullwort pulled out a battle machine, putting only Frigisaurus down. I pulled out my battle machine and put down Alectro, Elasmo, and Magalo like always. The battle began and I went first for once. Slightly taken back by Frigi's unreadable stats and high power level, I tried my Blue Fang first. For some reason, it did not hit. Puzzled, I tried my Elasmo tackle, somehow missing again.

I kept trying, constantly missing and getting horribly damaged by Frigisaurus. I could feel the air becoming colder as I battled and a cold sweat covered my body. Megalo and Elasmo were taken down and Alectro somehow held on, managing to get 5 damage on Frigisaurus. Finally, down to the last health, Frigisaurus began the final attack.

"Well, old friend," I said to Alectro. "I guess this is it." Just as Frigisaurus unleashed an Absolute Zero attack, I saw Alectro pear back at me and nod before closing his eyes and taking the hit. The attack went on after hitting, past him, and towards us. I closed my eyes and felt a freeze come over me before finally slipping into a numb darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly, the world around me blurry. I could feel something warm nudging me and a far away voice calling. I blinked again, seeing the world around me become clearer. Soon I could make out the shapes of Fang and Rosie.

"You're awake!" Rosie cried, hugging me. "I thought you'd never wake up! I was so scared when that wave of ice engulfed you like that, and then you were frozen solid!"

Suddenly feeling pain, I grabbed my chest, grunting.

"Thats because you've been holding Alectro so close to your body, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an indent in your stomach by now." Rosie said. I looked down and sure enough, there he was, back in meddle form, clutched to my chest.

I breathed in deeply before letting it out. At least they were safe. Fang whined, sniffing through bars in front of us. Were we... in jail.

"Looks like Bullwort put us in the local prison cell. How are we supposed to get out of this?" Rosie sighed, crossing her arms and sitting down next to me.

Suddenly Fang barked and growled. His growl was returned when a dog slipped around the opposite side of the bars. Rex! The pitbull BB Bandit member growled at Fang, Fang growling back. Suddenly Rex stopped, looking at me and Rosie. He looked at the lock on the cell before looking back at us.

"What?" Rosie said. "Are you gonna help us?" Rosie puffed, raising an eyebrow at the dog who jumped up, barking.

Suddenly Rex pulled out a key and turned it in the keyhole. Rosie jumped up as the cell door opened. Rex barked, running down to the stairs and back to us, barking again.

"Jackie, lets follow him." Rosie said. I looked up at her without a word and slowly pulled myself up. I followed the two dogs and Rosie out of the jail area.

Once we neared the exit to the police station Rex ran outside and began barking. We peered out to see him distracting the guard on duty. The three of us slipped out of the building and rushed off to the town plaza. We headed to the fossil center when Rex caught up and went down into a room I wasn't familiar with. Going down an elevator, we ended up in a long, silver hallway. The four of us rushed down it, passing the hotel clerk on the way.

We went into a large room with a large, up sliding metal door. When inside we discovered we were not the only ones present in the room.

"Grandpa!" Rosie cried, rushing over to her grandfather. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Hahaha, Yes, I'm fine. Actually, these three helped me quite a bit." Mr Richman said. Thats when our attention was turned to the three familiar BB Bandits. Rex, Snivels, and Vivian.

"You guys again? Why would you help us?" Rosie asked. Vivian turned away from us, thinking for a minute.

"Call it my resignation. I've taken orders from Bullwort long enough!" Vivian said. She turned around and walked towards us. "Since he's gotten his hands on that Frigisaurus he's treated his loyal followers like disposable pawns. He never even told us why we were looking for those idols, he just told us we had to. Who knows when we would be sacrificed for some schemes we didn't even understand!"

"I've heard of Frigisaurus before." Dr. Diggins said, placing a finger on his cheek. "Is it as powerful as the legends suggest?"

"Powerful is an understatement!" Rosie cried. "Jackie's Vivosaur team couldn't get more than 5 damage on that thing!" On cue, I was seemingly swallowed by a cloud of despair.

"Uh oh, shouldn't have said that." Vivian said. Rosie soon noticed my state, yelping.

"I-I'm sorry! Please don't look like that!" Rosie begged.

"Actually, he's pretty lucky." Snivels said. "The only way Bullwort got his hands on that thing was by tricking the Digadig Chieftain."

"Perhaps," Dr. Diggins said. "We should ask the Chieftain about how to defeat Frigisaurus!" He said.

"H-hey, Jackie, maybe you shouldn't diga-do this...*Diga-damit*!" Rosie said, looking sadly at me. Instead of answering her, I turned to the door and left the store room, as I assumed it was by the giant heaps of scraps lingering around. I walked all the way to the docks, Rosie and Fang following closely. We approached Beth and Sue, who looked at us sadly.

"Off to dig up some fossils?" Sue asked. "Well we'll need all the help we can get."

"Is he okay?" Beth asked, gesturing to me.

"He was just defeated for the first time and he's taking it pretty hard." Rosie whispered to the two dock ladies who nodded in understanding. "Can we go to knotwood forest?"

"Sure." Beth took Rosie's fossil license, clicked the button, and round came the boat. We jumped on and jumped off in the forest. We walked through the woods until we found the Digadig village. We entered it, walking over to the Chieftain.

"Mr. Chieftain, we need to diga-discus something with you." Rosie said.

"What is... wrong with him?" The chieftain asked, pointing to me.

"Best not to get to diga-deep into it." Rosie whispered.

"Alright. What do you...want to know...digadig?"

"We want you to tell us about Frigisaurus." Rosie asked, causing the Chieftain to jump away in fear.

"Why? Why do you want to know?! Digadig!" The Chieftain screeched. "I have nothing to tell you. You can... torcher me all you want... but I will now speak...digadig."

"Mr. Chieftain..." I said, catching his attention, my head still down. I raised my head and gave him the biggest, pleading eyes I could manage, causing him to flinch.

"I suppose I can... give you some diga-details, digadig." He caved in. "There is a legend... long told among the digadigs... a legend that tells of an epic battle... This battle was fought between seas... surrounding this island...and the mountains fought against it, digadig... The seas crashed in... rage, and the mountains erupted...fuming. The island was near destruction...digadig. It was then that my ancestors offered up... sacrifices in the form of fossils to the sea and the mountains... An apatosaurus fossil to the sea and a... tyrannosaurus fossil to the mountains... digadig."

"Are you saying," Rosie asked. "That Frigisaurus was somehow... naturally revived from the ancient apatosaurus fossil?"

"Correct, digadig. It was revived from the biting cold of the ocean's depths. And the tyrannosaurus fossil... absorbed the heat of the mountain lava to become ignosaurus." Suddenly something in me snapped. Ignosaurus... the first Vivosaur I had ever heard of! I had promised myself I would get it one day and Alecto became part of my team because of it's resemblance to the giant dino.

"Thats it!" Rosie said. "If anything can beat Frigisaurus it's Ignosaurus! Please, tell us, where can we find this Ignosaurus fossil?!"

"Deep in Mt. Lavaflow...Digadig."

"Wait, it's IN the lava?!" Rosie asked. "...Thank you for your help. Jackie, lets talk to Dr Diggins about it."

"Come on!" I called, already running out of the place. I took the teleportation machine outside the village and ended up at the docks. Rosie and Fang soon caught up and chased me down to the storage room everyone was in. When I entered everyone turned to me, staring at my bisar expression.

"What?" Dr. Diggins finally asked.

"I'm-gonna-get-to-blow-everything-up-with-a-giant-legendary-fire-dinosaur!" I gushed, my eyes sparkling and my face covered in a giant smile. Everyone just stared at me, their gazes flickering to each other every once in a while.

"Jackie!" Rosie called, finally catching up.

"What is he talking about?" Dr. Diggins asked. Rosie then proceeded to explain the situation while I daydreamed about blowing Frigisaurus up with fire. Ah, it's so beautiful~

"That sounds hard. How would we get it out of the lava?" Dr Diggins asked.

"If we moved the lava out of the way we could look with ease." Vivian said.

"Move the lava? Is that possible?" Dr. Diggins asked.

"Bark!" Rex began to bark to Snivels, Snivels nodding his head as the dog 'spoke'.

"He says theres a lava flow valve inside MT. Lavaflow." Snivels translated.

"Of course." I sighed quietly. "Why wouldn't they make a lava drain? No one on this island makes any sense."

"Like a faucet for lava?" Dr. Diggins asked.

"Lets just hope it doesn't come back out over us." I whispered to Rosie. She nodded her head, giggling a little. Rex nodded his head to Dr. Diggins, saying 'yes'.

"We know the fossil is deep in MT Lavaflow and this may help us." Dr. Diggins said. "Jackie, why don't you take Rex with you to go look for it?"

Fang barked wildly, catching my attention. I bent down to him, petting his head. "Don't worry, I'm not replacing you. I'll be back in a flash, promos." I said, petting his white fur. I stood up and nodded to Rex.

"Jackie," Dr. Diggins said, walking over to me, holding out a small machine that looked like an ear piece. "Here, take this new invention I've been working on. It's called the Doglish Translator mark 2."

"A dog translator!? How much time do you- wait, mark 2?" I asked.

"Yeah, the first one exploded." I looked down in horror of the small machine in my hand. What if it exploded while it was on my ear?! "Oh no! Don't worry! I've tested it, it won't explode... I think." I hesitantly turned it on and fastened it to my ear.

"Okey, does it work?" I asked.

"I'm going ahead." Rex said, rushing off.

"Where is he going?" Rosie asked.

"Ahead..." I muttered, silently wondering what I had just heard. "Fang, say something."

"Bark!" Fang barked.

"What he say?" Mr. Righman asked.

"He said bark." I shrugged.

"Strange..." Dr. Diggins said.

"Whatever." I shrugged. "He's so smart he'll find other ways of communication. Maybe he can write..." I said.

"Thats a little farfeched." Vivian said.

"Trust me," Dr. Diggins said. "After seeing him read through my papers, it really isn't."

"Why was he-?" Vivian asked.

"Goodbye." I said, leaving the room. I went all the way outside, heading straight for the docks. I walked up to Beth and Sue, who sat around moping about the BB Bandits' take over.

"Hey, Jackie." Beth said. "Out again?"

"Yep. And this time I think I know how to save the island!" I smiled.

"Really!?" Sue asked, jumping up. I nodded and handed Beth my fossil license.

"I'll need to go to Mt. Lavaflow." I said.

"Right away." Beth quickly put the card into the machine and pressed the Mt. Lavaflow button. The boat came around and I climbed aboard, sailing to Mt. Lavaflow. As soon as I got there I headed in, soon finding Rex waiting for me. He turned to me, tail wagging.

"I scouted the area out already." Red barked. "But sadly for us, the lava flow valve ceases to be found."

"Lets continue the search together then." I said. We walked into the lavay mountain and we looked around. We walked to every nook and cranny, but the lava flow valve refused to be found. Digging up large rocks, we found the old cave I went into to find the idol and looked around, not finding anything useful.

It was getting a little too hot, so I pulled out a water bottle and had a drink, giving the rest to Rex. We looked more and more, soon becoming weary.

"That it, I'm done." I said, sitting down.

"Come now, boy. We can't relinquish our scavenge yet!" Rex barked.

"Uhhhhh... Usually by now Fang would have sniffed it out." I sighed.

"You can't rely on your dog forever." Rex pointed out.

"I'm walking around with you, aren't I?" I sighed. Suddenly I heard a bark. Lifting my head into the air, I looked around and spotted a familiar white figure standing out on the black rock. "Fang?!" I called.

My trusty dog barked out to me, tail wagging, rushing over to me, making sure to stay clear of the lava. He came over and licked my face, putting his paw on my leg as I sat on the ground.

"Fang? Why are you her?" I asked once he calmed down. Fang barked wildly, sniffing the air vigorously.

"That won't work." Rex said. "It's too hot to pick up any sents." Fang barked back at him, rushing off down the path.

"What he say?" I asked.

"That Fang's already got the sent." Rex cried, following Fang. I rushed after them, panting because of the heat. We stopped in front of a wall that Fang was digging at.

"In there?" I asked. Without waiting for an answer, I took out my pickax and drove it through the wall.

"For our lives sake boy, be more careful when breaking a volcano's wall!" Rex nagged.

"Yeah yeah." I sighed, doing the same thing again. I soon found an opening and pulled the rock open, leading to a secret cave. "Good job boy." I praised Fang. I squeezed through the wall, Fang and Rex squeezing through after me. We walked forward only to find another wall.

"Yes, I think it maybe close by, the tricky devil." Rex said, rushing over to the wall. Rex studied the wall. I looked up to see a carving of two Digadigs on the wall. "I say! There seems to be something written here, albeit hard to read..."

Fang pushed Rex aside, looking over the text.

"I doubt you'll figure it out." Rex growled, getting fed up with being outshined. Fang began to bark to Rex. "Fang says 'Offer powerful mountain rocks to me.' By jove! Could that be a clue to opening the door?"

"It's outta be something useful. Maybe we need to care the shape of the Digadigs on the door to open it." I suggested.

"That must be it!" Rex cried. I picked up a rock and got to carving. I could feel myself sweat from the concentration, constantly putting it against the wall to see my progress. Soon, it finally fit into the wall nicely and I breathed a sigh of relief. The ground shook and the wall slipped out of it's previous place and out of the way.

We walked forward to see another rock carving wall. We grounded, Fang laying on the ground and putting his paws on his muzzle. I did the carving thing again and fit the rock into the wall. It opened up and we went through.

Then we found... another wall! I groaned, nearly punching the wall. I carved another rock out, almost breaking the first one and then actually breaking it. I carved another one with was too small. Fed up and angry, I studied a bunch of gravel in it and it surprisingly opened. Shrugging, we entered the room on the other side where we found... a room full of rocks.

"At least it's not another wall." I sighed. We split up, looking around for a valve. I looked around the rocks, tearing many of them up and throwing them, making Rex nervus and Fang amused. Soon I found some kind of turn-able pipe thing. "Hey, I found it!" I called.

"We need to turn it." Rex said. We all grabbed it, and began to pull or push. Soon the room began to shake, causing us to fall over.

"Wow! Lets see if it worked!" I smiled, jumping up and rushing out of the room. I rushed out of the smaller cave to find the place once filled with lava only having little puddles of lava. The room was dark now, making it harder to see. I looked around excitedly, my eyes shining. Pulling out my sonar, I began to search as soon as Fang and Rex came out.

I began to look around, pressing the buttons to try to find the fossil. I walked along the now visible ground, ignoring the heat. Rex jumped in pain of the hot floor while Fang calmly padded next to me.

Suddenly he barked, pointing his white nose at the wall. At a closer look I could see a cave that was blocked by the lava before and a bunch of rocks around it. The force of the lava draining must have brought the wall down! I rushed over to it, Rex and Fang hot on my heels, literally.

We entered the smaller cave and looked around. It was open and empty of any rocks with a smooth floor. I could feel a strange energy from the room and from the looks on their faces, I guessed Fang and Rex did too. I looked around with my sonar until a little red dot appeared on the screen. Exitted, I began to dig, fang helping as much as he could.

Soon I came across something that my pickax him, making a small 'ting' noise, like two glasses, clanging together to call out cheers. Fang and I pulled away the sediment to find a beautiful, orange fossil rock, Picking it up, I could feel it's power and heat along with a pounding, as if the fossil still had blood and a heart. I looked at it, eyes shining. I held it up in victory, my face holding the biggest smile ever.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a beam of light came out and hit it. I looked at it, surprised. What happened? It suddenly looked different, like a steel sheet was put over it.

"No drill or hammer in the world can even make a scratch on that now." A voice laughed. I turned around to see none other than Bullwort and two of his lackeys. "That'll pretty much end all hope of reviving the Ignosaurus!"

"You.." I growled through my teeth.

"And with that I'm officially invincible. There is nothing that can defeat my Frigisaurus. You may as well go home and wait for me to conquer the world!" He laughed, turning away and walking away after whispering: "Oh, yes. Taking over Vivosaur Island is only the first step. Frigisaurus is invisible, so why stop here?!"

"Blast!" Rex barked. "That tricky blighter must have completed the Imperva-Ray!"

"The what?" I asked.

"It's a ray that makes things it hits invincible. We must tell the others and quickly!"

"And thats about what happened." I said, holding the fossil in my hands. I was back in the warehouse with Fang and Rex, explaining to everyone what happened.

"Whats an imperva-rey?" Mr. Richman asked.

"It's a way that makes any surface harder than diamond." Vivian explained.

"Nonsense, there's no such thing!" Dr. Diggins said. "Lets take it to the cleaning area." Dr. Diggins led me out of the warehouse and into the cleaning room. Using his hammer, he hit the intangible rock over and over again, now making even a dent in it. "My, my, what a mess we're in."

"You can say that again." I said, putting the dog translator on the table behind me.

"So now what?" Dr Diggins asked, looking at the fossil. I leaned against the table, sighing and watching the fossil closely. I ranked my mind for ideas. If I had my robo-drowns I could scan the material, find it's weakness. A feminine voice brought me crashing into reality.

"Do not worry any longer." We turned around. My eyes widened as they met familiar golden ones. A girl with yellow hair and white cloths stood behind us. I straightened up, surprise clearly written on my face.

"Duna..." I whispered. Dr. Diggins turned to me, surprised.

"Jackie, do you know this lady?" He asked.

"Yes, quite well." I answered, my eyes never leaving her. She broke the eye contact, walking over to the table where the fossil was placed.

"Stand back." She said. I pulled Dr. Diggins back and allowed Duna some room. After all, I trusted her. She pulled out a ray gun and pointed it to the fossil, sitting in the cleaning chamber. She activated the gun, allowing a yellow ray to shoot out of it and surround the fossil. The fossil's invisible layer disappeared. "It's done." She said.

"Thank you. But may I ask why you're helping?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, looking away with rosy cheeks. "You saved my life. I'm simply repaying the favor."

"Thanks." I smiled. She blushed and turned away, walking out of the room, whispering a quiet 'any time' before disappearing.

"Who was that?" Dr. Diggins asked me.

"Duna, a friend of mine." I answered. "We should try again." I suggested, walking over to the fossil cleaning machine. I cleaned the fossil rock, getting a perfect score. Dr. Diggins, excited about the revival, quickly took the mettle out of the restoration area and handed it to me. I held it carefully, like fine china.

"You did it Jackie! I wasn't worried, nope, not one bit! I knew if anyone could do it, it was you!" Dr. Diggins said, making me smile. '_Everyone believes in me...'_ I smiled wider, looking at Dr. Diggins with a sincere look.

"Thank you, for everything." I thanked, causing his eyes to widen. Then he smiled.

"Any time." He said, patting my shoulder.

"Now, I think I need to repay everyone here, for everything they've done..." I said, giving off a confident aura. "Jackie stile!"

I stepped into the hallway. Rosie was waiting on a bench for me. The moment I stepped out of the cleaning room, she bounced up, running over to me.

"Hey, did you do it?" I held up Igno's metal, causing her to jump with glee. "Alright, so that means we can go challenge the BB Boss. Let-"

"Hold on." I said sharply, causing her to stop, flinching at my harsh tone. "Your staying here."

"What?! Why!?" She yelled, anger boiling up.

"It's not safe. Last time we were put in jail. There may not be a second try this time. I need you to be here, SAFE." I said, walking past her. She stood still with a shocked expression. Fang jumped over to me, barking. "You too boy, stay." I said.

I walked to the door, leaving them behind when all of a sudden a voice rang out. "STOP!" I turned around to see Rosie stomping towards me.

"Ros-"

"DON'T YOU GO OFF SAYING THAT KIND OF CRAP!" She said, causing me to flinch. She grabbed my sleeve, holding it tightly. "I thought we were a team in this! We're supposed to go in there together and I'm supposed to have your back while you beat Bulwarts! I thought you felt like I do to! I...I..." She looked up at me, eyes watery. "I thought...I..." She sobbed. Sensing her distress, I did the only thing I could think of. Holding the back of her head I pulled her to me, hugging her with one arm. She froze, shocked at my motion of warmth.

"Hey.." I said gently, giving her small smile while she looked up at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't know going ment so much to you." I said, wiping her tear. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." She said. Suddenly Fang barked.

"Yeah, you can come too, but thats it, no one else." I sighed.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little red head and the pinkett. What are you doing here?" BB Boss Bullworts asked, eying us.

"Ha, here to give you a peace of something we like to call PAYBACK!" Rosie said.

"Ohhh, nice one." I passed.

"What would you do without me?" She huffed, hands on hips.

"Get my job done faster." I joked, causing her to stick her tongue out.

"You're in an offlay good moods for those about to be frozen." Bulwarks pointed out.

"Actually, its getting pretty warm in here." Rosie pointed out.

"Yeah, so get ready, we're gonna melt you." I smeared, pointing Igno's metal at him. He jumped in shock.

"An Ignosaurus mettle?! But-my impervaray! How-"

"Sorry to break it to you, but you're impervius force had some cracks in it." I smirked.

"Well now, what an interesting predicament I'm in. Hehehehe! This will be FUN! Lets see if the legends are true, that when the two of them are together, an extreme force will arise and will wipe everything out." BB Boss Bullworts said.

"This time-" Rosie said.

"We'll win for sure!" I finished, jumping into action Bullworts. He and I set up our battle machines. He put down Salto, Frigi, and Shuno. While I put down Elasmo, Aleco, and Igni. The battle started. Igno and frigi started it out, doing little damage to each other each turn. At one point Frigi missed, giving us the super advantage. Soon, Igno finished Frigi off, allowing us to trample Salto and Shuno.

Bullworts backed up, shocked and sweating. "N-no! My Frigisaurus! What have you brats done!" He yelled. He raised his fist towards Rosie. Time slowed for a few seconds as the fist moved through the air, inch by inch. My body moved instinctively, jumping in front of her and raising my hands, catching his hand.

I began to push back on his hand. A vein throbbed out of his hand and he glared at me, pur need of revenge lingering in his gaze. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as I forced his hand back.

Now, let me remind you how big this man is. He looks like he could move a car, and I'm skinny as a twig.

I pushed back harder, causing him to slowly bend. His features twisted in fear as my eyes glew an boiling hot red. They literally glowed and my pupils seemed to become beast like, causing the BB Boss to begin to shake as I bought him down to his knees.

Finally, unable to sustain himself, he fell to the floor, nearly unconscious. I looked down on him, disgust in my eyes.

"Never, EVER, touch my friends." I growled, my anger levels slowly but surely going down. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"...Wow." Rosie said, amazed at my strength. Suddenly, Igno's metal flashed. I looked at it and watched as it slowly turned to dust in my hands. Trying hard to keep it from spilling, I took off my sock and put igno's remains in it. "Weird. Without Frigi, Igno just seemed to disappear."

"Yeah." I said. I bent my head down to igno, smiling. "Thank you friend." I said to Igno. Suddenly, the police came into the room.

"Well 'Caption' Bullworts, it's time you come and see the inside of your own jail cell." They said, hauling him up.

"Rosie, Jackie, your friends are waiting for you outside." The other officer said.

"Thank you." Rosie said. We went downstairs and out of the building. Outside, Dr. diggins, Mr. Richman, and the three ex. bb bandits stood, waiting for us. Mr. Richman stepped forward first.

"Jackie, it seems that once again, you've helped us more than we could ever of imagined. Thank you." He praised. I rubbed the back of my head, looking down to hide my smile.

"Gee, I didn't do that much. It could have been anyone." I said modestly.

"No, really!" Dr. Diggins said. "You we're amazing!"

"Hey," Vivian said. "Good job kid."

"We should be going." Snivels said. "Come on, Rex."

"Bark!" They began to leave, but before they made it, the sound of shouting brought them back.

"He's a monster!" We turned to see Bullworts being dragged out of the Richman building by about 6 policemen, a seventh calling for backup. "His eyes glow! He's skinny as a twig but stronger than me! He has to be a monster!"

We watched as he was dragged to the police station, everyone silent. Even after he disappeared we were silent.

"What was that about?" Snivels asked.

"Who knows." I said, shrugging.

"Jackie," Mr. Richman said, catching my attention. "Could I hold onto the last idol?"

Hesitating, I took the idol out of my bag and handed it to Mr. Richman. He tucked it under his arm, thanking me.

"Jackie," Dr. Diggins said. "That was an amazing skill you showed today. I think you're ready to level up, for the last time."

"Thats right!" Rosie said. "The next level up battle is in a week!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go off and train, tomorrow." I said, looking up at the sky, seeing that it was getting dark. "Yeah, it's late. Fang we should-Fang?" I said, looking around for the white dog. Suddenly, he appeared, a piece of police uniform in his mouth. "Fang... Did you just...?" Fang nodded. "...Bullworts...?" Fang nodded again. "...I'm okay with that." I shrugged, grabbing his leash and bringing him home.


	9. Master Fighter

I stood in the hallway. I had finished the cleaning test not to long ago, getting a perfect score. I had trained for a week for this battle, and there was no way I wouldn't win. Fang barked in anticipation as we entered the hallway. I had just defeated the first two preliminary fighters, ready to fight the level master-

"Saurhead." I greeted.

"I'm gonna rewrite your dictionary with a new definition of PAN!" He roared.

"Very nice." I sighed, Fang rolling his eyes.

"It's impressive that you've made it this far, but that's it, you're not passing me. Let's do this!" Saurhead went into the battle arena and I followed. I got on my pillar, waited for it to rise up, and placed my vivosaurs down. Alectro, Elasmo, and Megalo V.S. Guan, Pachrino, and Pelto.

I have to admit, it freaked me out when his Guan turned into a freaking T-Rex. That was a shock. But, in the end, I defeated him, not even losing a single Vivosaur! I was so disappointed at this turn around that I almost wanted to yell. He was called some big shot who was the greatest around and even if I was a great Fossil Fighter how could someone who had been training for a mere month defeat someone who had been training for years?!

I exited the stadium, both relieved and disappointed that I had been able to win against such a strong opponent like I did. Standing outside was the little fanboy and the older fanboy of Saurhead, the ones who told me I wouldn't win. I walked up to them, cross expressions clear on their faces. Tiffany watched from behind the counter.

The little fanboy stepped towards me, fuming. "You must have cheated to beat Saurhead!"

"Yeah," The other said. "...Cheater! You're a dirty, cheating...Cheater! Cheater!"

"Wow, I am soooo threatened right now." I muttered sarcastically. I sighed, shaking my head. At the very least they could have insulted me well.

"Rooooaaaaarrrr!" Someone yelled. "Thats enough! Do you not think Saurhead can't spot a cheater!?" We turned around to see non other then the masked level-up master. He stomped over to us, causing us to bounce off the ground from the force of his steps. He stopped in front of me, waiting a few seconds before sticking his hand out. "That was a good fight! Saurhead hasn't felt the sting of defeat for a long time now." He roared.

"It was a good fight." I agreed, taking his hand and shaking it. When I let go of his hand, Fang walked over, sitting down and putting out his furry, white paw. Saurhead chuckled a little, shaking his paw.

"So that was just a hard fought fight? No cheating!?" The little fanboy asked.

"I promise you, that cheating isn't even in my list of things I would do to win." I promised.

"No cheating at all." Saurhead assured. "And a victory over me makes you a master fighter! Here you go kid, you deserve it." Saurhead said, handing me my master fighter lisents. Suddenly, while I was examining it, it was pulled away from my hands. I looked up in shock as Dr. Diggins stamped the card, handing it back to me.

"Sorry, forgot the stamp it again. Congrads. See you." He said, leaving the building. I just kind of stood there, shocked.

"It wasn't even... his job to... Never mind." I said, shaking my head.

"Now kid, don't get cocky! There are plenty of stronger fighters out there, much stronger than me. I raised those vivosaurs just for level up fights, those weren't even my strongest ones. See you around, kid." He said, stomping off.

"Wow, Saurhead wasn't even taking this battle seriously!" The little fanboy shrieked happily.

"I'm gonna get him for that." I hissed, pissed off that I didn't battle the best. The two boys left, following Saurhead. I shook my head, sighing.

"Jackie!" I turned around, looking at Rosie who was standing behind me. I smiled at her.

"Hey, Rosie." I greeted.

"So, I'm guessing you made Master Fighter." Rosie said, seeing the new Fossil Fighter License in my hand.

"Yeah." I smiled. Then I frowned, grumbling in anger. "But it wasn't even his strongest team."

"You sound disappointed. Why on earth would you be upset about that?! You could have been crushed by his normal team!" Rosie shouted, grabbing my shoulders and shaking them slightly.

"Exactly! That means I didn't really beat him! It's like, he thought that using his normal team would mean no one could become a master fighter. But he goes ahead and tells everyone that he went easy on kids just so they have a chance. I don't FEEL like a master, that's for sure. Not until I truly beat him down." I monologue, gripping my fists, shaking them in frustration and determination. Rosie smiled, giggling a bit. "What?"

"It's just that... you care way too much." Rosie said, laughing at me. I crossed my arms and scowled.

"Whats wrong with that? I just want a fight where both sides go all out that challenges me is all." I frowned, shaking my head.

"You sound like you think you're some unbeatable monster that can't be challenged by anyone."

"Whatever. So how about you, your up next aren't you?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah..." She frowned, looking down.

"Whats wrong?" I inquired, tipping my head to the side.

"It's just that, if he's so strong, even if he IS using a weaker team... I just don't know if I'm gonna win or not." Rosie said, looking down.

"Of course you don't know if you'll win, it hasn't even started. But it's not like you only have one chance- you can keep trying, over and over again. Don't worry about winning the first time around, just fight like you usually do." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her cheeks lit us and she intertwined her hands in front of her, looking down and nodding. I lifted my hand to her head and patted her, smiling kindly. "You can do it."

"Y-yeah, thanks." Rosie said, fixing her hat for no reason. She rushed past me, quickly stopping to wave back at me, giving me a wide smile. She turned back to the door leading to the stadium, turning to me one last time. I gave her a thumbs up and her eyes shimmered oddly, nodding before entering the room.

I smiled, turning to walker to one of the benches, planning on waiting for Rosie, when I slipped on something, catching myself before I went to far. I lifted my foot up to find a small piece of paper on the ground, a footprint now printed on it. I reached down and picked it up, bringing it to my face to read through my shoe print.

'There is something I want to talk to you about, Jackie. I'll be waiting in the park for you tonight. From Duna'

I stared at the small letter, a blank look on my face as I stared down at the small slip of paper. I stuffed it in my pocket and sat down on the nearest bench. I wondered what she wanted to talk about and what I would say to her. Our relationship was an odd one, we had both fooled each other on who we were, my identity still hidden from her watchful eye. My mind once again drew back to who and what I was. I suddenly felt like the odd one out. I acted differently than anyone else on the island, sounded different, and even looked different. I suddenly realized how much I stick out in the crowd. I have almost no fear and a daring attitude, something that seemed to be unique in this society.

But than again, so what? It occurred to me that all people were of different colors here- so many different personalities, fashions, and so many unique people. I suppose everyone is an odd one out around here. I let out a quiet chuckle, smiling up at the ceiling. Life just seemed so funny all of a sudden, so unpredictable and hard.

"You've changed." I turned my head to Tiffany who leaned over her desk, staring at me with a wide smile.

"Parton?" I asked, sitting up and staring back at her.

"I said you've changed. I would have never thought that that young boy with those scary eyes would have waited for a girl out here, laughing to yourself. It's nice to see that change." Tiffany smiled. I smiled back, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm sure that you would never had changed if you didn't keep trying to be such a great fossil fighter."

"Sometimes I wonder... how would everyone be if I never become a fossil fighter." I admitted. In all honestly, I had wondered that so many times. How many people would have hated me than?

"Well we would have never met you if you didn't." Tiffany pointed out, giggling.

"No, I would have been around." I admitted, causing Tiffany to frown, scrunching up her eyebrows together. "In all honestly, I didn't come here to become a Fossil Fighter- that just sort of happened."

"Really? Why did you come than?" Tiffany asked, leaning in.

"Well... you know, this place it beautiful with all the greens and all the life." I said, changing the subject. Tiffany seemed disapproving of my answer.

"Of course, it's like this everywhere. Surely you've seen nicer before." Tiffany sighed.

"Nope, this is, honestly, the first time I've seen something like this- a town, a park, and lots of people." Tiffany sat up in surprise, blinking at me in astonishment.

"How could that be possible?" She asked. I shrugged, frowning.

"I suppose that my entire life so far has just been in my room." I said, causing Tiffany's face to drop.

"Thats one lonly life."

"I never knew the difference."

"...So why did you come here?" Tiffany asked again, really trying to get the answer out off me. I sighed, turning to face her.

"Honestly, it's a secret. But you know, I think that I came here for something different than I was supposed to. I think that, in my mind, I came to escape the life I had before, even if I'm supposed to go back home at one point."

"You have to leave?! When?" Tiffany cried, standing up. Her eyes looked so sad. It never occurred to me that I had such close bonds with the people around me. _When did I start to think of myself as one of them?_

"Hopefully not soon." I chuckled, smiling at her.

"I really couldn't imagine you leaving, life would change so much." Tiffany frowned.

"Yeah, the police would need to step up their game." I said, causing Tiffany to laugh.

"Rosie would miss you very much." Tiffany said.

"And I her." I admitted. The doors opened, Rosie somberly walker out, head down and tears falling down her face. I rose up, mouth hanging slightly open. She kept walker, stopping onto when she noticed I was still there. She gasped, quickly wiping her tears.

"J-Jackie! W-what are you still doing here?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"I was waiting for you." I answered, frowning at her.

"R-really?" She asked, covering her face with the rim of her hat. "You never did before..."

"I suppose not." I said, beginning to walk towards her. She took a step back, beginning to ramble in a shaky voice.

"Well I guess there's a first time for everything, huh? Hah, I guess I look pretty stupid, crying like this over some dumb match, I'm pretty pathetic huh?" She said, shaking slightly. I stopped right in front of her, staring down at her sadly. She kept her face hidden, trying to pull her hat down in front of her face. I reached down and pulled off her hat, letting it fall behind her. I was still a bit taller than her, so her head was about to my nose. She looked up at me, eyes red and pitiful.

Taking a deep breath, I gathered all of her into my arms and pulled her close to me. She went quiet for a bit and I started to wonder if I was doing it wrong. It felt so weird to do this, but apparently it was a 'comforting gesture' in society, so I tolerated it for today. Soon she returned the gesture, whimpering softly into my stomach. I patted her head gently, now freed from her hat, and kept quiet.

After a while her whimpers disappeared and she calmed down. When she seemed alright, I let her go and she took a step back, whipping her remaining tears on her hands.

"T-thank you." Rosie whispered.

"...I'll walk you home." I decided, picking up her hat and placing it back on her head. She nodded her head and we quietly left the fossil stadium, a few bystanders watching as the scene ended. We walked in silence down to the guild area, walking side by side. Honestly, for the first time, the silence was a little unnerving. I was so use to Rosie's random blabbering that the quiet seemed too peaceful.

"You know," Rosie finally said, still looking down at the ground. I turned my head to her, waiting for her to continue. "You were really hard to talk to when I first met you and I didn't quite know what to do." She said, causing me to chuckle a little. She smiled as well, looking a bit more upwards now. "But as time went on, you weren't nearly as scary as I thought you might be. You're actually really shy about things and care much more than you let on. I don't really understand why you put on that tough guy act, but I'm glad you're open enough to let me see those bits of you." Rosie admitted, finally looking up at me. My smile dropped a bit and I looked away. "Whats wrong?"

"Honestly, I feel bad about the way I treat you. Yeah, you're bossy and scare the hell out of me sometimes. But you are my first real friend." I admitted, keeping my eyes on the sky. "But in a way, I don't think I was capable of being kind to people before I came here, even if I wanted to. I just... never knew how to before." I said, smiling down at Rosie.

"Really, I'm your first friend?" Rosie asked, leaning close to me.

"Yeah, thanks for that, Pinky." I smiled, patting her head.

"Hey! Don't call me Pinky!" She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Than don't wear so much pink." I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Aren't you, like, 15? Why do you always have to act 30?" Rosie whined. I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Perhaps you're just not as much as me?" I suggested.

"'Perhaps' you're just a stingy old man!" Rosie child, sticking out her tongue. I shook my head and lead Rosie to her grandfather's mansion. "Thanks for walking me home." Rosie smiled. I nodded my head and smiled.

"Not any trouble." I shrugged, waving her off.

"Still, thank you." Rosie said, hesitantly turning away to walk into her room. The moment she was out of sight I sighed. Man I was having a hard time being nice to people. Everything I said and did felt wrong in comparison to everything I've said and did before I arrived on this island. I turned to head back to the hotel to rest up when I found a white flash land in front of me. I smiled down at Fang, who sat there patiently for me.

"I forgot I brought you out with me. Man you disappear fast, now don't you?" I hummed, walking towards the docks, Fang turning to follow me obediently. I smiled down at Fang, beginning to talk openly to the white wolf. "You know, I don't think I ever thought I'd make friends down here. So much for completing my mission in a record time, huh?" I chuckled. Fang stared up at me, as if he could comprehend all I was saying on another level than some old mutt would. "I mean, I'm really glad that I did, but it just makes me feel bad about what I may have done to them, if I never met them. Oh man, now I don't wanna go through with this. Is that wrong?" I asked, turning to Fang.

Fang tilted his head to the side and whined. I frowned in response. It was hard to tell what he was trying to say- if he was saying he didn't know or if he just didn't know how to answer. I reached down and pet him on the head.

"Good boy, Fang." I praised, telling him it was alright if he didn't give me a clear cut answer. "You wanna go for a walk?" I asked, stopping in the middle of the street and pointing down to the dock. Fang nudged my pocket, causing the note Duna sent me. I smiled and pulled it out. "Can't get anything past you, can I?" I smiled, opening the note and holding it in front of him, knowing from experience that he could read as well as I could. He looked over the note and folded down his ears, growling lightly. "Now now, I don't think she's all that bad. I'm going to meet her as she asked of me. And if anything goes wrong, well, I'm strong. It'll be fine." I assured, tucking the note back into my pocket. Fang relaxed and nodded, turning his nose to the docks. "I knew you'd want to go on a walk. Come on, let's go." I said, leading Fang to the docks.

I walked silently to the park. The stars were out and lights were off, crickets squeaking in the night gently. I trudged along the path into the park, moving to meet Duna in the park. I walked around for a while, trying to find her. Forgetting to give a time and exact place was a little frustrating, but I soon found her. She stood by the edge of the park, leaning on the fence and looking out onto the ocean. She turned to me when I let my shoe crush a leaf. She was in a human like form, red hair turned blonde and scaly, blue skin now white and practically glowing.

"You've come." She said quietly, standing up strait.

"I have." I nodded back. I approached her, stopping by her side and leaning out to the water. She turned back to the water as well. The two of us stood in silence for a moment, taking in the beauty of the night.

"I wasn't sure I would see you again," She finally said, breaking the silence. "So I wanted to talk with you one last time."

"I suppose you have something important to tell me." I said, turning to her.

"Yes... As you know, I'm not human." Duna said, turning away.

"I've noticed." I said, giving a quiet exhale of amusement.

"I am a Dinaurian, a creature from another world." Duna began to explain.

"'Creature'? You talk as if your not intelligent enough to speak of yourself as a species." I pointed out, causing her to smile.

"I suppose your better choice in words would suffice. As you know, evolution causes creatures t change over millions of years. You and I have followed different evolutionary paths and are now different species altogether." Duna explained.

"If I'm hearing what your implying correctly, than humans and Dinaurian branched from a common line?"

"I knew you were smart." She smiled, giggling lightly but soon becoming much more serious. "Dinaurians have never thought well of the human species. We find the way you have waged meaningless wars detestable. I myself have always thought of humans to be unable to give respect, wanting for nothing but conflicts. But," She said, taking a moment to pause and turn to me once more. "You are different. Despite the fact that I am a Dinaurian and attacked you... you saved my life." She said thoughtfully. I frowned and turned away, looking down into the black waves.

"I wouldn't use me as a model, I'm a bit of an... enigma around here. But I'll tell you this: everything you see in me can be found in almost any human here. I'm sure that there are many that have a kind enough heart to help someone out, even if they are a Dinaurian." I smiled, keeping my eyes down.

"Than why call yourself an enigma is so many more are like you?" Duna pried, leaning close to me. I bit my lip and curled my fingers tightly around the defense bar.

"It's... complicated." I managed to let out. Duna nodded understandingly. She knew I didn't want to answer that just yet.

"May I... ask you something?" She asked, turning away uncertainly.

"Ask away, I'm all ears." I said, causing her to smile.

"If there was a war between Dinaurian and humans... if I were your enemy... Would you still have saved me?" Duna asked. I wasn't quite sure how to answer something like that. I was no human, so the conflict wouldn't include me. But if it did...

"I think it's a bit more complex than that. The circumstances could cause me to act differently. But over all... I think I would. Not because I'm a good guy or because I ignore that you're an enemy. It's more of... I care about all life, because everything should have a chance to live." I answered, feeling rather satisfied with my answer.

"All life... is worth something..." She whispered, as if my words had hit something deep within her. "You answer... it is... kind beyond belief."

"Yeah, would you have believed that before I came to this island I thought nothing of the life of others." I chuckled. "The people around here have changed me for the better, that's for sure."

"I think I... like you." She admitted.

"And I am rather fond of you as well." I replied, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. She smiled back at me, sadness glooming in her eyes.

"It saddens me that I won't be able to see you again." Duna said, causing me to frown. Something about the way she said that made it seem like... something big was coming. "It is something that can not be changed." She said, sensing my understanding. "There is nothing that can be done. If only humans had become Dinaurians as well, I would have loved to have met you then."

"Would I really be the same person?" I asked, causing her to turn to me in surprise. "Everyone changes based on how they live. So would I really be like I am today- would I have ever been born if I was Dinaurian?" I turned to her and she looked away, almost ashamed of what she said.

"Goodbye, Jackie." She whispered, turning to me and placing her lips against my cheek. Keeping her eyes away from mine, she turned away and disappearing through the darkness. I stood there, staring after her. I turned to the ocean and looked to the horizon, touching my fingers to my cheek. Cold. Her lips were cold. The light was beginning to slip around the earth, though daybreak was long to come.

_**Okay, I swear I didn't realize I hadn't updated in a year- honest! I was so distracted by everything else that I never got around to it! And it's a pretty minor chapter, so I hope I can get something else out before too long!**_


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